Apex
by Tango Charlie
Summary: To reach the apex of the Pokemon world, that is Ash Ketchum's dream. His will burns brighter than all, and the bonds he makes are unbreakable. But does he have the power? And when he does, will he truly reach his destiny? Will he be... A Pokemon master. Unova Retold from BW89.
1. A New Beginning

**Author's Note**: Yo.

I know you guys are patiently waiting on my next update of TBTBLTNEW, but I was hit by a massive inspiration while watching a few episodes of Best Wishes Season 2. And as you may have deduced from the summary, it is indeed the episode BW79: Iris and the Rogue Dragonite.

A quick heads-up before starting. This story begins from the very episode mentioned above, and will carry into the wider Unova plot after this. Kalos too, if I get that far that is.

So, let's get on with it!

* * *

**POKEMON**

**Apex**

_Chapter 1: A new beginning!_

* * *

**(Somewhere in Unova)**

* * *

The sky was dark and thunderclouds were forming. Flying type Pokémon hurried back into their tree tops and nests to protect themselves from the oncoming onslaught of water and thunder. A herd of Tepig followed an Emboar into a cave formation, finding safety from their natural enemy in the dry areas. Of course, it wasn't all doom and gloom for all beings; for a lot of Water types could be seen with wide smiles on their faces as they came out from their hiding places, rather than get into them. All in all, despite the less than pleasant weather, the mood around the area was peaceful and quiet.

But it didn't remain that way for long.

A ferocious roar tore through the sky as two massive forms came flying through it. Brilliant flashes accompanied with them savage beams and lasers of destruction, as was aptly noted by a flock of Pidoves who watched in horror as a nearby tree was blasted into oblivion.

The two hulking forms were none other than the two Pseudo Legendaries, Dragonite and Hydreigon, who were battling it out in a wild and uncontrolled version of a savage Pokémon battle. The two Pokémon, vastly known for their equal power; but polar opposite natures, showed their impressive stamina and strength as they launched attack after attack at each other. Both Pokémon had looks of rage on their features, although it was slightly easier to see it on the expressive face of Dragonite.

Dragonite, a Pokémon known far and wide for its happy and kind demeanor, showed none of its usual perseverance as it viciously attacked its foe with a powerful Flamethrower.

The fire type attack burned its way towards Hydreigon with surprising quickness, but the Dark type deftly dodged the attack with its flying skills.

Snarling in rage, Hydreigon's three heads worked in tandem as a triple Hyper beam was launched towards a alert Dragonite, who countered with a powerful Ice Beam.

The two attacks met in mid sky with sound of a gunshot, and with their creators powering them continuously, exploded in massive tundra of ice and energy, with large ice poles dropping down from the skies into the trees below.

Rushing forward, both Pokémon let out blood curdling roars as they clashed with each other with nothing but pure speed and strength. Neither gained an advantage though, with both the dragons thrown backwards with bruises on their thick scaly hides.

Unnoticed to both, the icicles from Dragonite's Ice Beam attack had fallen into a group of trees housing a large number of flying type Pokémon. With Tailows and Starlys accompanying them, the native Pidoves shrieked out in terror as they blindly flew into the sky, unheeding of the even greater danger present.

Dragonite launched a Thunder attack towards the reeling Hydreigon. Massive voltage generating around its body; and fueled with the electricity already present into the clouds above, Dragonite centered the electricity on the two odd antennas present on its head and launched the attack with a barking noise. The electric energy travelled through the sky in the blink of an eye, and reached its intended target.

Having only a split second to act, Hydreigon acted on instinct and covered its main head with the two smaller ones, who unfortunately played the role of hands in protection.

A mini explosion occurring, Hydreigon was engulfed in the large Thunder attack. With the slight amount of water on its body from battling with the Dragonite in the clouds, the attack proved more than little damaging to the Pseudo Legendary, who screeched in pain as its two smaller heads had a sudden inflow of unpleasant electric current through them.

Smirking in apparent victory, Dragonite started to take its leave, not noticing Hydreigon charging up another Tri-Beam, although it was expectedly less powerful than before due to the damage suffered by the magnificent dark type.

With its two minor heads snarling in rage at the unified brain, Hydreigon aptly launched the Tri Bema towards Dragonite, too enraged to notice a flock of panicking Pidoves flying around its foe.

Sensing the attacks, Dragonite was about to dodge and retaliate, when in noticed the small Pidoves directly in the line of attack. Growling under its breath, Dragonite covered the Pidoves with its own body, shielding them from the devastating Tri-Beam.

A mini inferno occurring at the site of explosion was enough for the Pidoves to promptly Quick Attack their way out of the temporary battle zone.

Unfortunately, Dragonite didn't escape unscathed in the least. With its left wing burned and a couple of flight oriented bones broken, Dragonite cried out in pain as it hobbled downwards.

Taking relish from causing pain to its adversary, Hydreigon decided to end the battle. Charging up a single headed Dragon Rage, Hydreigon spit the attack towards a helpless Dragonite. The blue blazing attack hit Dragonite with full force, massive explosion occurring on the site of contact.

Dragonite cried out in pain as it fell from the sky involuntarily, luckily falling into a nearby lake, splashing with enough force to cause a large tidal wave. Enough to knock back a large number of water type Pokémon onto the nearby forests.

Hydreigon roared out in victory, its smaller hands growling with equal fervor. Happy at having defeated its opponent; albeit with underhanded tactics, the massively powerful Pokémon flew back towards the direction from which it had tumbled out during its melee with its fellow Dragon type.

Deep under the lake, Dragonite settled itself onto the lake surface, only a thread of consciousness keeping it awake. Accessing the damage, the Dragon type decided to stay in the soothing water to repair the burns. Closing its eyes, Dragonite fell into a night long slumber. Having seen the ferocious battle high above, none of the water dwellers dared disturb the resting Dragon type.

* * *

**A few hours later...**

In a matter of hours, daylight hit the lake surface. With no way to know the time, Dragonite remained in its sleep, the action helping to restore the kind expression bore by Pokémon of its species, and thus actually allowing a brave Tympole to wake up the Pokémon.

Its face immediately turning into a scowl, the dragon looked towards the slightly shaking Tympole. Giving a grunt, as if to say 'Let's get on with it'; Dragonite shot itself from the lake surface using its power thigh muscles.

Exploding from the water surface, Dragonite gave a light flap of its wings to move a large amount of distance effortlessly. Suddenly noticing a human made structure, a Power Plant in this case, Dragonite grunted as it attempted to use move power in its flight. Giving a large flap of its wings, Dragonite didn't quite get the reaction it was looking for.

Instead of the expected increase in speed, massive pain tore through its back, emerging from its wings. With the sudden pain, Dragonite was unable to control its descent from sky, and ended up crashing a large tower present in the Power Plant.

Taking no damage from the crash, Dragonite grunted as it landed on the power plant grounds. The tower making a loud groan as it fell; Dragonite cringed at the loud crashing noise following it.

The tower had ended up falling with a lot of wires and equipment present on it. Luckily, due to it being morning hours no person was injured. Nevertheless, the damage was enough to cost a pretty penny to repair.

Sighing at the amount of debris it had unintentionally caused, Dragonite was just about to make its hasty retreat when a large shock hit its back.

"MMMAGNEMITE!"

Scowling at the irritating attack, Dragonite turned around only to come face to face with a large number of Magnemites. The magnet Pokémon were buzzing in anger at the dragon type for the amount of damage it had caused to their workplace. If a third party were to see he confrontation, none would have blamed the Magnemites for their reaction.

However, Dragonite was in no mood for answering to a bunch of magnets. Already pissed off from its loss to Hydreigon last night, and amplified by the pain in its wings, Dragonite let out a loud roar, the action causing shockwaves to push back the Magnets.

The battle at the Power Plant began.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

In the nearby town of Undella, staying in a villa owned by none other than the Sinnoh Champion, Ash Ketchum and his friends were up and ready to start their day. Staying in the state of the art building, Ash and his friends had taken full advantage of the grounds healing facilities as well as training grounds to prepare for the upcoming Club Battle Championship.

Ash was accompanied by Iris, a girl from the reputed Dragon Village headed by the Dragon master Drayden, and Cilan, the Connoisseur gym leader of Striaton city. The trio had journeyed through Unova in Ash's quest to win the eight gym badges necessary to enter the Unova League. Having accomplished that task, Ash was now diligently training for winning the Unova League.

But in a surprising turn of events, Ash and his friends were joined by his Sinnoh companion, Dawn Berlitz, who had come to Unova to explore the region and meet with Ash. The blue haired girl had already finished her journey in Johto, and thus was invited by Cynthia to her villa, where she met with Ash. Deciding to stay for a little bit, Dawn had decided to participate in the upcoming Club Battle herself.

With Cilan off to prepare breakfast, and Ash letting out his Pokémon, it was up to Iris to find their blue haired companion. The dragon trainer sighed on exasperation as she watched Dawn tend to her hair. In their few days of correspondence, Iris had fully come to understand that the coordinator was nigh near fanatical about her hair, not even showing her face till she had it in the best condition.

"Oh come on, Dawn! You hair is looking all good and stuff, let's go down already!" Iris said, obviously hungry for the Food Connoisseur Cilan's breakfast.

"Hush, Iris. You know I can't show myself to everyone while my hair is not good. It's soo~ difficult to keep my hair in a perfect condition!" Dawn huffed in frustration as she ran the hair dryer on her silky blue hair. She couldn't even imagine how horrifying it would be if Ash saw her Dee Dee hair.

'What a kid.' Were Iris's thoughts at the moment. Still, she had come to like Dawn a lot during the few days after they had met, so she wasn't about to make any rude comments. Moreover, she found the situation to be more amusing than anything else.

Axew blinked as he watched the scene go in front of his eyes. Having never seen its trainer put much attention to her own hair, the Dragon type could be excused for finding Dawn's actions a bit weird. Piplup, who was more than acquainted with its trainer's behavior, simply rested with a relaxed gaze.

Suddenly, the lights in the room began flickering, and in a matter of seconds, all the electrical appliances switched off. Also included in this was Dawn's precious hair dryer.

"H-Hey! What happened?" Dawn went into a minor panic attack as the machine turned off.

"Why did the lights all turn off?" Iris looked around in confusion as Axew and Piplup shrugged.

The sudden opening of the door gathered the duos attention.

"It's a power cut guys." Ash informed the two as he entered the room with Pikachu perched on his shoulder.

Dawn pouted "Aww man... And I was almost finished too!" She said as she tried to straighten out her hair with her hands.

Making their way out into the slightly darkened corridor, the trio made their way towards the dining hall, where they clearly saw Cilan and Jarvis due to the large windows present in the room.

"Mr. Jarvis, is there something wrong with the electricity?" Ash asked as he approached the table.

"I am afraid so, Ash. Due to our town being so close to a power plant, we rarely have to suffer from power cuts, it's certainly most peculiar." Jarvis said gravely. "But don't worry, this villa has its own backup generators, so we won't have to stay in the dark for long." He added.

Nevertheless, the gang sat down on the table to eat the hearty western style breakfast cooked by Cilan. Having dodged dirty looks from Jarvis from day one, Ash finally decided to eat in a more...human-like manner, much to the relief of the others. Though the raven haired boy was certainly not happy with such a slow pace of eating.

Slow was for chumps, pig style eating was for real men. Just ask Goku.

For the next few minutes the only sound in the hall was of cutlers clanging as the teens started their breakfast. Eventually, Dawn and Ash engaged in a talk about how their respective journeys were going after their split. Ash was immensely proud and happy to know that Dawn had once again reached the finals of the Grand Festival in Hoenn. Likewise, Dawn was happy at knowing that Ash had completed his quest for collecting Gym badges a whole three months prior to the league.

She was not, however, happy to learn about the attitude of Ash's latest rival. And she was even more disappointed to learn of Ash's defeats to him.

"But why Ash? You are so much better and more experienced of a trainer than that Trip guy. How can you possibly lose?" Dawn asked in disbelief. After all, this was the guy who had taken down two legendary Pokémon in the Sinnoh League. Against an opponent who not even the Gym Leaders were able to touch.

Iris looked at Ash with a confused gaze too "That's something even I was wondering, Ash. Trip is a rookie trainer who hasn't even competed in his first league. Compared to him, you are like a grizzled veteran!" Hearing the topic, even Cilan turned his head towards Ash to listen to his answer.

However, Ash was completely non-pulsed by questions "I agree that Trip is a new trainer, Dawn. But what you all are forgetting is that essentially I am a newbie too." Seeing his friend's bewildered looks, he continued.

"I didn't bring any of my older Pokémon with me to Unova. So it was essentially a new journey for me with my starter Pikachu. All of my Pokémon are at a level they could be if I started my journey in Unova, rather than Kanto."

As looks of understanding came onto the faces of the trio, even Jarvis was listening with rapt attention, Ash shrugged "Sure, I could have won all those Club Battle tournaments, I could have even crushed Trip had I used all of my older and more experienced Pokémon. But what's there to gain from that? I have made new friends in Unova, Oshawott, Snivy, Pignite, Krokorok, Leavanny, Boldore, Scraggy, Palpitoad, Unfezant. I want to help them get stronger, strong enough to help me win the Unova League." Ash finished, smiling.

Cilan, Iris and Dawn looked at Ash with awed looks on their faces. Never in a hundred years had they thought their friend to be capable of such deep thinking.

However, Dawn had one more question that she had on her mind.

"Ok... So I understand all that about using your new Pokémon Ash. But what about Pikachu?" She asked, making Ash blink.

"What about him?"

"Don't play dumb with me Ash. Pikachu is your STARTER. He has more combined experience than your whole team, and most of your Pokémon back home. I understand that he was weakened after your meeting with Zekrom, but what about the 5v5 battle you had with Trip? Pikachu alone should have defeated all of them?" she asked a bit skeptically.

Before a sputtering Ash could formulate an answer, Pikachu decided to save his own sorry yellow behind.

"Pikachu pi pika!" Pikachu waved his arms around wildly, pointing towards his trainer. "Chu Pikachu pi!"

"Say what!" A vein grew on Ash's head.

"Pika-Chuu!"

"How was it my fault?"

"Chu Pikachu!"

"Oh noo~ you didn't!"

"CHU Pikachu!"

"Why you little-"

Before the quarrelling duo could come to blows, a sudden ringing caught the attention of the people sitting around.

Since it was so early morning, the group was curious as to who could be at the doorstep. Following Jarvis as he opened the door, they were even more surprised to see Officer Jenny on her Bat mobile-esque patrolling bike, with a very serious expression on her face.

"May I help you, Officer?" Jarvis asked politely. The teens peeked from his back.

"Yes. Can you call Champion Cynthia out please? It's a major problem, and there's a high possibility that we may need her help." Jenny spoke up seriously, without any pleasantries.

Hearing this Ash, being the adventurous boy that he is, immediately came out from behind the butler "What kind of problem Officer Jenny?"

Before the woman could answer, Dawn chose the moment to make her presence known "Is this somehow related to the power cut happening now?"

Jenny nodded at the bluenette "Yes, you are correct. Our power plant has been attacked by a rogue Pokémon. While we could have usually taken care of it ourselves, the Pokémon in question is very strong. It has effortlessly knocked out the various Pokémon employed at the Power Plant. Magnemites, Magnetons and even a Magnezone have been defeated by this Pokémon." She stated with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

Cilan was taken aback at the information "All of them at once? And even a Magnezone? This particular Pokémon must be exceedingly strong Officer Jenny." Thinking for a second, he asked "Do you know what Pokémon it is?"

"Its a Dragonite." At the shocked looks from the group, she continued "Yes, you must have understood by now how dire the situation really is. We really need Cynthia's expertise, and if necessary, her power to take care of the situation."

"I am afraid Officer Jenny, Cynthia is currently out of town. She left last night on some official duty. It is highly unlikely she will return today." Jarvis stated gravely.

Jenny's lips drew in a thin line "I see." Taking a few seconds to compose herself , she switched on the engine of her bike "Please be careful. While the Pokémon has just attacked the Power Plant until now, it is highly probable that it will increase its attack radius. Keep you Pokémon with you all the-"

"You're wrong!" Iris's sudden dismayed cry cut through Jenny's voice, causing everyone to look at her. "Officer Jenny, Dragonite's are kind and gentle Pokémon. They will never attack someone to just destroy!" The dragon trainer said with resolve.

The only Kanto native over there, Ash decided to support Iris's statement "That's right Officer Jenny. I am from Kanto, and its a well known fact that Dragonites are not vicious Pokémon. I am sure there must be a reason behind these happenings." Not to mention what the heck was a Dragonite doing in Unova anyway?

Dawn echoed her two friend's statements. Having fleetingly seen Professor Oak's Dragonite, she could hardly believe a Pokémon like that to be violent.

Jenny shook her head "It's not like I have a personal problem with it, you know. I can only deduce from what I saw firsthand." Dragonite's were already rare in Kanto. To find one in a far off region like Unova was a feat in itself. So in all honesty, this could have been Jenny's first meeting with the Pseudo Legendary. And first impressions always matter the most.

"Let's not come to a hasty conclusion here guys." Cilan said with a calming motion from his hands "Even if what Ash, Dawn and Iris say is true, I don't think it should be a debatable fact that Dragonite's are crazy strong Pokémon. And for all we know, this particular Dragonite may be more hot headed than the others." Cilan pointed out.

Dawn snapped her fingers "Hey! What about Meloetta? We can use her calming song to to pacify Dragonite!" She said with a smile.

However, this hope for a peaceful solution was quickly dashed by Jarvis "I am afraid, Ms. Berlitz, that even that is not possible. Meloetta, curious as she is, followed Cynthia in her car. I noticed a little bit too late, and chances are that she is still with Cynthia." Jarvis stated apologetically, making Dawn frown.

The group stood in awkward silence for a few minutes, before Jenny decided to leave.

"Well... I guess I should be making my leave then." Just as Jenny was about to twist the accelerator, Ash's voice stopped her.

"Wait! Officer Jenny, could we come to help?" At Jenny's skeptical look, he continued "We are all Pokémon trainers, and Cilan here was the previous Gym Leader of Striaton City. If the Dragonite is as strong as you say, perhaps we could do something?" He pressed on. Iris's face broke into a smile as Ash said the exact words she was about to.

She would never have been able to forgive herself if she was not able to help Dragonite.

Jenny was highly inclined to decline, but looking into Ash's steeled eyes, she couldn't help bit believe in the kid's words. "Sure. If you really want to, you may come to help." She said with a smile, causing Ash and Iris to jump in joy.

Plus, having a Gym Leader in support was indeed an added positive.

OOO

**A few minutes later...**

Ash, Dawn, Iris and Cilan, with Pikachu, Piplup and Axew, reached the power plant after a few minutes of running. Panting lightly, the four entered the plant, just in time to hear the loud voices.

"Damn it! We have to find some way to reach the Dragonite! It has sealed itself in one of the major control rooms." A worked said worryingly as he looked at his co workers and Officer jenny.

"What about we use the air vents? They lead to all the rooms in the factory, and we cod reach the dragon in no time at all!" A worker said, smacking his fist in success.

"No can do." Jenny stated with a scowl "The vents are way too small for an adult to fit. We must find another way." Just as the workers were about to suggest another idea, Ash and his friends made their grand appearance.

"Wait! Officer Jenny, we can go through the vents." Ash said as he looked at the policewoman.

Jenny looked a few times from Ash to the vent, before nodding resolutely "Take this Pokeball." She said as she handed the red and white device to the raven haired teen. Ash blinked at the gadget, before shrinking and attaching it to his pocket with a thankful nod.

"Come on Ash!" Dawn's voice echoed from the vents, causing Ash to hastily climb his own way into the steel structure. It seemed that Iris and Dawn hadn't wasted any time in making their way inside the vent.

Seeing his friend go up, Cilan was about to make his own when Jenny's hand on his shoulder stopped him. Blinking in confusion, Cilan finally understood what Jenny meant.

Taking a step back sadly, Cilan mentally wished the best of luck to his friends, before thinking to himself despondently.

"I guess it won't be 'Spy walking' Time after all..."

OOO

Catching Pikachu in his arms, Ash kneeled besides Dawn and Iris as they peeked from behind one of many large controlling machines.

The lone door to the room was effectively sealed by a massive slab of ice, no doubt from an Ice Beam attack. Dragonite itself was on the floor, its eyes closed and the Pokémon sleeping. Careful to not wake up the dragon type, Ash and the girls talked in low hushed tones.

"Why would Dragonite invade the Power Plant just to rest?" Ash whispered, a bit bewildered from the actions of the Dragon type.

Iris furrowed her brows in concentration as she ran a look on the Dragonite. Initially not finding anything out of place, the young trainer suddenly noticed the small purple bruise present on the Pokémon's left wing.

Gasping in surprise, Iris quickly explained the situation to her two friends "Guys, Dragonite is injured! Maybe that's the reason he came here, or maybe even crashed into the place." With Iris pointing the location, Ash and Dawn too noticed the wound on the Pokémon.

Dawn though bit her lips in confusion "But the wound isn't even that bad, it almost looks as if it has already healed by now..."

"Dragonite has been here for at least a couple of hours guys, so the wound may have healed a bit from what it was before" Ash interjected.

Unfortunately, all this talking and gasping had succeeded in waking up the extraordinarily sensitive senses of the Dragon type. In a single fluid motion, the Dragon type's tail crashed through the machine behind which the trio were

Yelping in surprise, Ash managed to pull the two girls; and himself, from out of harm's way. Pikachu had similarly jumped away, now crouching on all fours and cheeks sparking with anger. Piplup had similarly taken a determined stance against the large Pokémon.

Glaring up at the scowling Dragon Type, Ash tried to placate it "We are not here to hurt you Dragonite" The Pokémon scoffed, not believing him. Still, Ash pressed on "Please believe us Dragonite, we want to help you recover, come to the Pokémon center with us, we can heal you over there."

The Pokémon snarled, as if the thought of help disgusted him. And with its fist crackling with electricity, Dragonite was about to attack when its Thunder Punch was stopped solidly by an Iron Tail attack from Pikachu.

Pikachu's strength behind the attack was such that it managed to knock both Pokémon backwards. While Dragonite stumbled for a bit, it instantaneously retook its stance. Pikachu spun a couple of times before landing on his hind feet.

"It's not listening guys..." Iris murmured nervously as Dragonite and Pikachu clashed. Oh, how she wished Meloetta was with them. Everything would have been much easier

"Please listen to us Dragonite! I know that you are in pain, and you just want to rest. But this isn't the place Dragonite; you are putting yourself in danger!" Iris yelled in desperation as she ran in front of Dragonite, shocking Ash, Dawn and Axew, who she had left behind.

Dragonite however, was too angry to think rationally, and attack Iris with a Flamethrower. Eyes widening in fear for his friend, Ash breathed a sigh of relief as Piplup cancelled the attack with a water gun of its own.

Growling, Dragonite once again tried to attack with a Thunder Punch.

"Piplup, Dodge!" Dawn said, to which her Pokémon deftly jumped out of the attack.

Iris quickly made her way back to her two friends, nodding to Dawn with gratitude.

Ash enlarged a Pokeball in his hands "Last chance Dragonite! You have attacked us three times by now, and we have not attacked you even once! Why don't you trust us?"

Dragonite's answer came in the form of another charging Flamethrower. Sighing in resignation, Ash looked up with a fierce gaze and hurled the Pokeball in his hands.

Just as Dragonite's Flamethrower was half way through to the gang, the attack was literally cut through as a figure emerged from the Pokeball in a bright flash. The Pokémon emerging was bipedal, sand colored with black stripes, and with a much crocodile like appearance.

Oddly enough, it was wearing a pair of sunglasses.

No doubt, the Pokémon was none other than Ash's Krokorok.

"Krokorok!" The dual Ground-Dark type was confident as ever, glaring down Dragonite without even a little bit of fear.

Iris bit her lip to keep herself from stopping Ash. She knew by now that Dragonite could cause much more collateral damage if left unchecked. She only had Axew on hand. Excadrill and Emolga were at the Pokémon center, healing from their last night training with Cilan.

Not for the first time, Iris felt herself wishing for the legendary Pokémon who had been following Ash. Maybe things would have been different with Meloetta, but without her maybe this was the only way.

Dawn did not say anything, rather kept herself ready for helping Ash whenever needed. Piplup too got ready.

Pikachu was back on his trainer's shoulder, watching as the battle was about to start. While the electric mouse was indeed a bit disappointed at not getting to face Dragonite himself, Pikachu nevertheless followed whatever decision his trainer made. And if he thought that Krokorok should be allowed to face Dragonite, who was he to argue?

Seeing that Dragonite was not taking the initiative, Ash decided to kick start the match.

"Krokorok, use Crunch!"

"Krooookorok!" "Dagooo!"

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

**Many miles away...**

Meanwhile, a very sinister development was underway on the opposite side of the town of Undella.

Being a coastal town, Undella had a lot of beautiful scenery around it. World's best beaches, high end restaurants, five star hotels, and basically everything a tourist could need for having the best vacation ever. Not to mention Pokémon from all the regions could be found dwelling here.

But one of the more interesting things about the town in Eastern Unova was also something that few cared about. Being built on a mountain, the area surrounding Unova had a lot of underground caves and lakes. The main reason these places were bereft of tourists was because of the sheer difficulty in reaching them.

Tentacruel and Frillish were abundant in these areas, so it wasn't really a pleasant prospect to the average tourist to face such dangers; only for reaching a lifeless cave.

But the group of people gathered around one such formation were neither averse to danger, nor tourists.

Dressed in black, with only a single deep red R present on their shirts, Jessie, James and Rocket Elite Pierce were gathered around what appeared to be a underground pond only a few feet deep. It was a very unassuming formation. In fact, the only thing remotely interesting about it was the extraordinarily clean water present in it.

"Jessie, James, Meowth, secure the perimeter. We do not need any interference during the task. Operation Tempest in the single biggest mission in Team Rocket history, we cannot afford to risk it." Pierce ordered in a stern tone.

The trio nodded resolutely as they jogged away. Reaching their positions, they activated the devices which they retrieved from their back packs. The devices were meant to disrupt any and all interruptions they might have gotten from both police and Pokémon.

As the three did their jobs, another figure emerged from within the shadows. The particular individual was wearing a white lab coat, and was an elderly individual.

Dr Zaeger smiled at seeing the progress made. "Pierce, are you completely sure this is the correct location? We have been misled a total of 28 times by now?"

Pierce nodded "Affirmative, doctor. Meowth has provided all the data the three have collected throughout the year, they are fully sure that this is the place we have been looking for." The blue haired man personally didn't have a very high opinion of the three; not surprising given their record, but they had indeed performed beyond anyone's expectations for quite some time now.

Zaeger moved forward, a small rectangular device held in his hand. "So then... No better time to check it." Pressing the red button on the device, all of the five individuals started to feel peaceful and quaint at the voice which came from it

The beautiful voice belonged to none other than the Unova Legendary, Meloetta. As the song played, the entire structure began to shake and rumble, causing all of them to brace for any falling rocks or debris.

But instead, a very different and magnificent event occurred. The lake, which was only a few feet deep, began to shake violently, with a loud groaning sound coming.

Much to the amazement of the trio, a large temple like structure emerged from within the lake. The temple looked quite archaic in its design, with loads of mosses and water plants stuck on it. Not q single part was dry. A single door was present on what appeared to be its front.

Pierce looked up at the structure with success in his eyes "Ladies and gentlemen...

Welcome, to the Abyssal Ruins."

* * *

**Undella Town...**

**At the Power Plant**

The southern wall of the power plant had a huge gaping hole created in it. Out on the grassy land, Krokorok and Dragonite glared across at each other, panting a bit hard, but not much worse for the wear

A good distance behind Krokorok, Ash stood, fists clenched and covered with dust. The reason being Dragonite's sudden destruction of the wall behind it

While the first few attacks between the two Pokémon were aptly dodged by either, Dragonite did manage to hit Krokorok with a Flamethrower. Thankfully, the crocodile Pokémon's thick armored body hadn't suffered much damage.

Krokorok had responded with a Stone Edge attack of his own. While Dragonite might have been able to dodge it, its faulty wing betrayed it, causing the Pokémon to be hit by the machine gun of rocks. Not at all happy with the pain it was feeling, Dragonite proceeded to punch a hole in the wall using Thunder Punch, effectively destroying a large portion of it.

And now, they stood. Ready to start round two of their battle.

This time not waiting for its opponent, Dragonite started. A glowing white sphere created in its jaws, with energy crackling around it like electricity. The Pokémon launched the attack with precision, singular arcs of energy being launched like a Thunderbolt attack.

Seeing the Ice Beam approaching, Ash ordered "Dodge it using Dig."

Just as the Ice Beam was about to hit the dual type, Krokorok dug its way into the ground with unnatural quickness. Shards of Ice were created at the place where the Ice Beam had hit, showing that it was a very precise attack.

Seeing Dragonite look around in confusion had Ash's confidence rise. Noticing he slight bulge on the ground, and how it moved stealthily around Dragonite, Ash waited for the right moment.

There! Just as Krokorok was underneath the Dragon's tail, Ash yelled "That's it Krokorok, use Crunch!"

Dragonite's expression turned into one of alarm as it guarded it body with its hands. However, that turned out to be for nothing as sharp pain emerged from its tail.

Howling in pain, Dragonite attempted to shake the croc off, but to no avail.

"Tuck your hands and legs along your body Krokorok!" now that the croc did it, its body flew through the air like an extension on Dragonite's tail, with the Pokémon unable to shake it off.

"That's it Krokorok!" Dawn cheered from the background.

"AGOOO!" Dragonite, in a fit of rage, painfully flapped its wings once to give it a nice jump, and then smashed its tail onto the rock hard earth, earning pain filled cry from the croc.

"Oh no, Krokorok!" Ash looked on in worry as Dragonite's fourth tail smash finally loosened Krokorok grip enough for the Dragon Type to toss it away.

Krokorok landed with a painful thud on the ground. Testing its ribs, Krokorok was damn sure at least one of them had cracked from the successive smashes.

"Krokorok, are you alright? Will you be able to continue?" Ash asked with worry laced in his tone as he watched his Pokémon cough painfully.

Krokorok looked back at Ash with a confident gaze, despite its pain, and its glasses shone to show that he indeed was capable of continuing.

Ash smiled. He should have expected this from the beginning. The smile wiped off his face as Dragonite ran forward, a Flamethrower launching from its mouth towards the croc. Due to Dragonite's zig zag running, the Flamethrower turned a heck of a lot more dangerous than before.

Ash cursed as Dragonite disappeared from view altogether. The raging inferno covered the Pokémon's path, with huge embers crashing in a haphazard manner.

Dig was a failsafe option, but Ash wanted to try something more radical.

"Alright, Krokorok, defend using multiple Dark Pulse! Explode the Dark Pulses against the Flamethrower!" Ash yelled confidently.

In the background, Iris frowned "What is Ash doing?! Krokorok can easily defend using Dig."

Suddenly, Cilan's voice echoed in Iris's mind "Don't worry Iris. As both you and I know, Ash has a unique flavor of his own! This order of his must be some part of his strategy!"

Iris squeaked in fear, causing Dawn to look at the girl strangely. Shrugging it off as another one of the girl's quirks, she turned her attention back to the battle.

Dragonite smirked to itself as it charged its way towards the croc, maintaining the low powered Fire type attack perfectly. Once he got close range, the overgrown shoe won't stand a chance.

Krokorok was more than acquainted with his trainer's habit of using unorthodox strategies. And it was with personal opinion that he could say most of them worked

So without further adieu, Krokorok charged up a black colored sphere with a glowing center in its jaws. The whole process taking a thousandth of a second, Krokorok launched the attack towards the incoming inferno, which had no definite shape due to Dragonite's running along with it.

The attack exploding with the sound of a cannon ball, thick smoke filled the arena as Krokorok's multiple Dark Balls exploded against the fireballs.

Dragonite grinned to itself as it homed in on Krokorok's position. Despite not being able to see, Dragonite's antenna allowed for it to locate its foes with pin point accuracy.

So, when Dragonite reached the expected place of Krokorok's standing with a fist glowing with electricity, it was not a pleasant surprise to find the place empty.

It was then that Ash made his move "Now Krokorok! Explode from the ground and use Stone Edge!"

Against everyone's shocked looks, the ground behind the original Dragon exploded in a shower of dirt and dust, followed by Krokorok emerging from it.

As time ran into slow motion for the two Pokémon, Krokorok's glasses shone in the sunlight as a ring of stones started circling its body in an X shape.

Before the stunned Dragon could do anything, Krokorok launched the attack with devastating quickness towards Dragonite.

Each of the attacks hit with an ear splitting crack. Dragonite was thrown backwards, although remaining standing, as the rocks exploded against its thick scales, leaving angry red welts in their places.

"Alright! He did it!" Iris cheered as Krokorok's attack fell with power and precision.

"Now, finish this with Shadow Claw!" Ash said as he waved his hand in an arc, sure of his victory.

"Kroko!" Krokorok's claws in length and glowed with malicious energy. Still in the air, Krokorok raised its arm to slash with most power, thin wisps of purple trailing behind its claw.

However, while Dragonite was indeed injured, it was in no way down and out.

In a fearsome display of strength and stamina, Dragonite launched a point blank Flamethrower towards the descending Krokorok, who could do nothing as the fire swallowed its body

Ash yelled out his Pokémon's name, but dodging from such a close range attack, while in mid-air was something impossible.

Krokorok cried out as its hurt body hit the ground with a loud thud. Feeling burns on its body, the sandy colored Pokémon was looking black in many places due to the amount of soot created on its body. Just like all ground type Pokémon, Krokorok's body had a covering of dense dhst and sand. This was the maid reason attack like Thunderbolt and Flamethrower didn't usually hurt it as much.

But enduring a point blank Flamethrower was beyond the capabilities of the Ground type.

Not giving its adversary a moment to rest, Dragonite charged up a quick Ice Beam. The attack screeched as it cut through the air. The super effective attack hit Krokorok with the sound of a buzz saw.

Ash watched in horror as Krokorok's body was encased in a large slab of ice. The Pokémon's horror struck reflection shined inside the perfect structure.

"Nooo! Krokorok, you have to get out!" Ash yelled desperately.

Krokorok shivered violently inside the ice structure. The Pokémon was unable to even so much as twitch voluntarily. Every muscle, every cell suffered from minor frostbite. The pain was excruciating. Krokorok was close to giving up. Yes... Krokorok thought. Giving up would be so easy... So fast... Just close your eyes... Close them... Sleep... Rest.

But hearing Ash's desperate cry, something inside of the croc awakened. Feeling a strange warmth seep through its skin, Krokorok's eyes snapped open. A guttural cry escaping from its throat, the ice around Krokorok began cracking and splintering.

Dragonite watched with wide eyes as its adversary started cracking the ice prison. Ash, Dawn and Iris were equally stunned. But the reason for that was much different.

While breaking the ice prison would have been impressive, the reason everyone's jaw was dropping was because of the glow that had overtaken Krokorok's body. The Pokémon's body was elongating and growing larger by the second, and just then, the ice exploded.

Where once stood Krokorok, now stood a much larger, heavier, armored and red colored Pokémon. The glasses were ever-present, still miraculously fit on the new Pokémon's face. The Pokémon had an even larger snout than before, with jagged sharp teeth poking from underneath. Taking a deep breath, the Pokémon let out a war cry befitting of its new power.

"KROKODILE!"

"YES! Krokorok evolved!" Ash cheered as Pikachu fist pumped. It was at that moment that a whole group of people appeared, jumping over the barricade. Officer Jenny and a lot of workers arrived at the scene.

Taking no notice of the extra crowd, Ash decided to end the battle for once and for all.

But before he could even give a command, Dragonite stood up. Although panting harshly with many bruises on its hide, Dragonite still let out another ferocious roar. The power was such that shockwaves arose from the point where Dragonite stood. But although Dragonite showed rage, a hint of a grin appeared on its face. This was what he lived for, the adrenalin rush, the blood pumping through its veins, its muscles screaming in agony.

Dragonite loved every second of it.

And then it decided. Looking towards the raven haired trainer, the dragon gave a savage smirk.

Ash was worthy.

On the other side, a smile spread on Ash's face as he looked into Dragonite's eyes. Ash very well understood what meant by Dragonite's behavior.

It was going to give its all in its last attack.

Ash smirked. If the attack was what he thought it was, Dragonite stood no chance.

Sure enough, Dragonite's body shone with red energy, almost as if it were on fire. Its eyes turned red and its muscles bulged. With the sound of a thunderclap, Dragonite shot off from its place like a rocket, moving with unbelievable speed towards Krookodile.

The onlookers screamed at Ash to tell Krookodile to dodge, heck, they told it to do so anyways.

But Ash Ketchum had a plan.

And being his faithful Pokémon, Krookodile knew this.

Dragonite let out a guttural voice as it rushed towards Krookodile, unminding of the pain in its wings. The ground underneath it cracked with the sheer speed the Pokémon displayed.

Just as Dragonite was three feet in front of Krookodile, with its fist drawn, Ash uttered two simple words.

"Foul Play."

It happened in a flash. Just as Dragonite reached the dual type, showing speed that neither he nor Krookodile knew existed, Krookodile grabbed the Pokémon in a masterful grapple and in a micro second, slammed it onto the ground with the sound of a missile going off.

A large dust cloud created as Dragonite's hefty body crashed into it, The ground exploded with the blunt trauma force it experience, and rocks around were crushed by the sheer power radiated from the attack.

Dragonite looked on with one eye into the face of his defeater. Glaring tensely for a while, Dragonite gave a grunt, before finally falling to unconsciousness.

Letting lose a breath, Krookodile slumped besides the dragon, its own exhaustion coming into play. While mid battle evolution did provide a massive increase in strength and speed, it didn't exactly restore the Pokémon's base energy. Evolution was more like a sudden adrenalin rush, only a hundred times more powerful.

Turning his hat backwards, Ash enlarged the Pokeball in his hands. Taking a deep breath, Ash hurled the Pokeball towards Dragonite with expert precision.

The Pokeball hit Dragonite, immediately swallowing it up in the form of a red flash. Everyone watched tensely as the Pokeball bobbled left and right, sometimes shuddering violently. Yet, after the thirty second mark, it finally stopped. A 'ding' sound indicated that the capture was indeed, complete.

Running towards the place where Krookodile lay besides the Pokeball, Ash ignored all of the cheers which he got from the assembled crowd. Hugging Krookodile for the job well done, he picked up the red and white ball. He didn't even give his usual pose. Krookodile and Pikachu looked at their trainer with a strange gaze, but shrugged it off. Pikachu grinned at the now hulking Krookodile, with the two Pokémon sharing some friendly banter between them.

Ash's face initially showed disbelief. He had just captured a Pseudo Legendary. Yes, he did have Gible who could evolve into Garchomp but this was another matter altogether! Pseudo Legends were rarest of the rare. The Pokémon who the collectors found only after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in waste.

Yet, he now had one. One which he had captured. By himself.

Allowing himself to grin, Ash agreed.

It was a pretty damn awesome feeling.

* * *

OOO

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sooooo...

How was it guys? Good? Bad? Awesome? Super Saiyan 3?

Please leave your opinions in the form of likes and reviews. Since this is a new story, those things matter a lot whether I will wish to continue it or not. Since I have another story with considerable following, this goes double for this story.

Also, feel free to give any suggestion which you might have for the plot I am about to follow. I guran-damn-tee that your ideas will be taken into consideration

Tango Charlie O.U.T


	2. Breaking in the new model!

**Author's Note: **Yo.

I know I have been lax with the updating, but no need to worry anymore!

Disclaimer: I lost the rights to Pokémon in a beer drinking contest with Nintendo. Bastards used a Shuckle.

* * *

**POKEMON**

**Apex**

_Chapter 2: Breaking in the new model!_

**(Undella Town)**

**At the Pokémon Center...**

The usually lively Pokémon center looked barren and empty, with the only sounds being that of the lights and equipment whirring. Small grunts and groans came from behind one of the door, where the more critically injured Pokémon were kept. Only two figures were present at the scene, with the shorter one handing a Pokeball to the figure behind the desk.

"Will Dragonite be alright, Nurse Joy?" A worried voice started in the empty Pokémon Center.

The woman now identified as the Nurse, smiled, "No need to worry, Ash. I have run a full diagnostic on Dragonite, and if he stays in the Pokemon Center for just this night, I can assure you that he will be as good as new by tomorrow morning." Nurse Joy said as reassured the young trainer. Turning away, she then started making her way into the recovery room, with the Pokeball containing Dragonite held safely in her hands.

Ash heaved a sigh of relief, "Well, that's good." He said as he looked at the entrance of the room Nurse Joy was entering.

The Recovery Room 2 was used for treating unruly or dangerous Pokémon which had been caught by trainers or brought to by concerned rangers. Since there was no telling what a berserker could do, it was very unsafe to let them out in a hospital like a Pokémon center. So the recovery room 2 contained special equipment which allowed for treatment of Pokemon while they remained inside their Pokeballs. Not to mention his was useful for treating most fire types, since they burned of most salves and bandages anyway

Needless to say, it was not free of charge. Unlike the usual healing, which was sponsored by the league, such special treatments were only allowed for experienced trainers who could pay for it. Thankfully, Ash fit the criteria.

Just as Joy was about to enter the room, Ash stopped her, "Can I use the video phone, Nurse Joy? I have to make a cross-region call to Professor Oak in Kanto." He asked

The nurse waved while walking, not even turning around, "Sure! Feel free Ash."

Ash smiled in gratitude as he made his way to one of the many video phones located in the corner of the Pokemon Center. Since it was pretty late in the night, no one else was present in the main lobby of the centre, making for a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. And with Pikachu resting back at his room, Ash truly felt alone in the large room.

Sitting at the green chair comfortably, Ash quickly jabbing the contact number he had called so many times before, and then waited for someone to pick up the phone.

"Hello. This is Professor Samuel Oak's Laboratory, how may I help you?" The smooth of voice of one of Ash's oldest travelling companion came through the speaker.

Ash smiled as he turned on the video feature, "Hey Tracy! It's me, Ash."

Almost immediately, Tracy's grinning face appeared on the screen "Well, hello Ash! How's it going in Unova?" Tracy asked, intrigued about his friends journey in the far away region. It had been quite a long time since he had last called after all.

Grinning widely at the question, Ash pulled out a rectangular case from his jacket. Opening it, Ash showcased the eight badges he had won in Unova, "It's been going awesome Tracy. And as you can see, I even got all the eight badges!" Ash said with a thumbs up.

Tracy nodded, "That's amazing Ash!" He congratulated, before continuing, "Since you have much time now to train for the Unova League, I hope we all can see a splendid performance from you." He said, half optimism, and half warningly.

Ash nodded, "You can be sure of that Tracy." he promised, "Now, not to be rude or anything, but can you call Professor Oak? It's pretty late out here in Unova, and I've gotta talk about some really important things with him." Ash stated seriously.

The Pokemon Sketcher smiled, "My bad, its just 6 pm in Kanto Ash, but it's alright I'll call him in a second. Stay on hold." And with that, Tracy quickly made his way away from the Video Phone.

Ash hummed as he waited for Oak, observing the various lights, buttons, screens and pipes littered around in the part of the Laboratory visible from the video phones limited angle.

After about a minute, Oak appeared on the screen. Sitting on the chair, Oak smiled at seeing Ash, "It's nice to see you, Ash."

"Hey, Professor Oak!" Ash greeted jovially.

"How is your journey going on in Unova, my boy?"

The same expression of happiness coming to his face, Ash nodded, "Fantastic Professor! I have got all the gym badges, and now I can participate in the Unova League." Ash said happily, before continuing "How are my Pokémon doing?"

"They are fine Ash, just awaiting your return is all." Oak said in a usual tone, before suddenly grimacing "Well, most of them are..."

Ash immediately frowned at that, "Most of them?"

"Yes Ash, while most of your Pokemon are happy and even training most of the time, there is one Pokemon which is not doing well at all, ever since you left for Unova, in fact." Oak stated with a sad look.

Ash was extremely worried now. What was the matter with his Pokemon? Was it sick? Professor was going around in circles, and wasn't liking it, "Who is it Professor? And what's the matter with it?" He asked frantically.

Oak took a deep breath as he began, "Its little Gible." Seeing Ash's worry increase even more, he continued "And the problem seems to be that it's extremely bored, and probably missing you very much Ash."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"What the heck Professor? How's that something serious?!" Ash exploded as he asked in disbelief.

Rather than wilt under the voice, Oak looked at Ash sternly, "How can you say that Ash? I thought you cared for your Pokémon! One of them is missing you greatly, and that's all you can say?" He asked, a bit of disappointment in his voice.

The raven haired trainer immediately waved his hands in protest, seeing as to how his statement might have been taken in a wrong way, "No No No! That's not what I meant, Professor." Seeing that Oak still remained suspicious, he continued, "It's just that I thought it was something really serious like illness or something." He hastily explained.

Oak's gaze lightened after that, his face returning to the same kind look he always had, "If it had been an illness, I would have taken care of it without any worries Ash. But what's happening with Gible is something far more serious than what it might seem." He warned.

Obviously looking confused, Ash cocked his head at that, "What do you mean by that Professor? Gible's just bored, right? I can call him here for a few weeks-"

Oak cut Ash off at that point, "I'm afraid it's not that simple Ash. What I believe Gible is most frustrated about is that it's getting almost no training to develop its body." Seeing Ash getting ready to ask a question, he quickly continued "What you must understand, Ash is that for Dragon Type Pokemon, evolving isn't just a powerup, or something they can stay without. It's a part of life without which they cannot ever reach their full potential." He explained.

Taking the statement the wrong way, Ash frowned, "You know I don't like to force my Pokemon to evolve, Professor. They can get strong without evolving too." It was a rule of life that ash lived and breathed through. He wasn't about to push his Pokemon harder than he had to just to make them evolve.

However, the Professor, rather than wilting under Ash's determination, looked at him rather sternly, "Yes, Ash, I know that quite well actually." He said while his lips turned into a thin line, "But what you must understand is that it's actually very … depressing and painful for Gible to stay in its pre evolved form for long." Seeing a look of shock come across Ash's face, he continued, "Can you imagine how hard it is for Gible to block attacks or even reach out for something with its small hands? Can you imagine how it must feel after seeing its senior Garchomps flying in the sky?" Oak asked, his voice growing louder as his frustration creeped in.

Ash visibly deflated as Professor Oak continued "Evolving is something that comes to Pokemon naturally. It's their metamorphosis into a state that allows them to live their lives in a better manner. Not to say that they cannot do so by not evolving, but what i am just trying to say is that don't instill this belief into yourself that evolving Pokemon is something to be frowned upon. It's well and mighty that Pikachu and Bulbasaur don't want to do so, but don't do injustice to your other Pokémon just to keep them happy. Which I am sure is not their intention, nor will they be unhappy if the others evolve." Oak internally rejoiced at the shocked look of realization that came across Ash's face. That meant his lecture was doing its job.

He then continued, "Also, for Dragon types, evolution to their final states is the single dream upon which they base their entire lives. The sheer draconian energy they are born with can only be truly harnessed if their body matures into their final stages."

"Gible's desire for training is not something to be taken lightly Ash. By catching Gible, you have basically taken on the responsibility to help Gible reach its full potential, and I must say you have been very irresponsible with your duties."

"That isn't true." Ash murmured, now more in a defensive manner rather than with any conviction.

Professor Oak actually shook his head in disappointment at that "Do not act ignorant, Ash. You had Gible for a period of what, three months? You trained Gible to a very large degree in those three months, even taught it Draco Meteor, which was something I hadn't thought was even possible. But then, you left it to take just Pikachu to the Unova region. You could have at least taken it with you. I do remember Donphan went with you to Hoenn as a Phanpy, and look what wonders it did for its development." Oak said, looking quite disappointed by the time he finished.

Ash was looking towards the Professor with shock in his eyes. Never before had his pseudo-grandfather ever talked in a stern manner with him. And with Oak pointing out all of his mistakes ruthlessly, Ash felt his defenses crumbling away. He could see now, how he had not been fair to most of his Pokémon, by not training them as good as he could have.

Thinking about Gible, and how Professor Oak said the little guy must have been feeling so sad, Ash felt an off wetness appear in the corner of his eyes.

Samuel sighed as he looked at the near to tears boy. It truly hurt his heart to lay out all the things to Ash, but the boy needed to learn. Oak had for far too long let Ash do things his way, but if he had to truly help him achieve his dream, such talks were necessary once in a while.

"Look at me, Ash," Oak said, the kind tone returning to his voice. Seeing Ash look at him, he continued, "You are a very young trainer, Ash, and it's okay to make mistakes! God knows I made them. But what's important is that you learn from them. I hope that you won't dismiss my long lecture as that, but rather take it as a lesson. Which will help you become the best Pokémon Master the world has ever seen." He finished with a smile.

Quickly wiping his face, Ash looked at Oak with a new fire in his eyes, "You're right Professor." Clenching his right hand in a fist, he continued, "I have been way too lax and inefficient with following my dreams. I have to change that."

Taking a deep breath, Ash continued, "Please send Gible to me, Professor. I know that Gible doesn't deserve an irresponsible trainer like me, but I will like to try and make amends. I will like to train Gible to his full potential." He said, a fire of conviction in his eyes.

Oak smiled proudly, "Now, that's what I have been waiting to hear, my boy. I think Gible will be very happy to see you again." He said as he began rising up to bring Gible's Pokeball.

However, he was cut short as a large purple blob suddenly occupied the screen with a large drooping smile on its face.

"MUUUUKKK!"

Ash chuckled as he waved to his Pokemon, "Hey Muk! How's it going?"

Muk waved his hands in the air as he blabbered happily, seemingly telling Ash about something funny that had happened on the ranch. The reason Ash could tell it was a funny story was with the various globbering laughs the purple blob gave multiple times. Anyone else would have thought it to be creepy, but for a person like, Ash, such things were natural.

The raven haired trainer grinned at Muk as it completed its tale looking at Ash hopefully, "That's awesome Muk, looks like you guys are having a lot of fun there, huh?"

"Muk!" Muk vigorously nodded in agreement, happy that its trainer shared its views.

Taking a side glance at the equally purple human being beneath Muk, Ash sweat dropped, "Well buddy, as good as it has been talking to you, I think that you should get off of Professor Oak's chest..." Ash murmured, a little worried for his grandfather figure's life as his face had turned blue by now, with his eyes bugging out.

Apparently, Muk wasn't much worried as he continued giving a hug to Oak, somehow making his body travel through his own sludgy mass to properly wrap his two arms around the half dead Professor.

"Well, if Professor Oak is alright with it..." Ash said as the Professor glared at him.

Oak made some muffled shouts, which confused Ash as to what the professor was trying to do. Things were made clear to him in a few seconds as two hulking figures appeared on the screen.

One of them a deep orange in color, with a huge flame lit on its tail, was none other than Professor Oak's starter, Charizard. The other Pokémon was one with whom Ash had gotten more than familiar with today. Professor Oak's Dragonite.

"Hey guys! Been a long time since I've seen you." Ash chirped as he looked at the two dragons, who looked startled at the sudden voice.

Looking at the screen, both smiled at seeing Ash, who had been a constant figure in their life as a kid. Waving to the kid, both Pokémon began conversing with the raven haired trainer, even if they could not understand him.

They were close like that.

Meanwhile, Oak's muffled shouts of help were un heard by his two loyal Pokémon, prompting him to start thrashing wildly. Or as wildly as he could with a hundred pound living sludge on top of him.

The wiggling gained the duos attention, who both then frantically started pulling Muk off of Professor Oak, encountering a lot of resistance, but eventually succeeding. Muk pouted as it sulked away, giving one last goodbye to his trainer.

Somehow wiggling his way out the affectionate Muk's leftover sludge, Oak looked at Ash pleadingly, "Please, for the love of god, take Muk with you too. I simply cannot bear against such bone crushing hugs ten times a day."

Taking pity on the Pokémon professor, Ash nodded in an exasperated manner, "Al right, send him too."

Looking at Oak's Pokémon, a thought came to his mind, "Uh, Professor, I have not told you this yet, but I need your help in something else too."

Looking especially happy now that he knew Muk was going back to Ash for a while, Oak smiled, "Well then, ask away my boy!"

Thinking about how he should proceed, Ash decided to bite the bullet and asked in a straightforward manner, "You see Professor, I have caught a Dragonite. And I need your help in taking care of it."

Oak's jaw dropped, "Y-You caught a Dragonite!?"

Ash smirked, proud of his achievement, "You bet!"

Shaking his head in wonder, Oak smiled, "You never cease to surprise me, my boy. Now tell me, what's the matter with it? Dragonites are very quiet and peaceful creatures. I cannot think that you have any problems with its behavior." He asked.

Ash shook his head, "You see Professor, that's the problem. This Dragonite is very aggressive. Nothing like the others I have seen in my journey at least. Its face almost constantly appears to be set in a scowl. Heck, even Lance's Dragonite's looked tamer than him."

Oak looked quite dumbfounded by the information, "I see… This is quite intriguing. I cannot say anything concrete without at least meeting the Pokémon once, but if I am correctly getting what you have just said, the Pokémon seems to be very competitive."

Ash nodded, "Yeah. It picked up fights with almost all of the Power Plant Pokémon, and then very readily battled Krookodile."

Oak smiled, "I assume that this 'Power Plant' you are talking about has some story behind it." He said, making Ash stuck his tongue out sheepishly, "Putting those matters aside, I think I must warn you about this Dragonite. You cannot have the same interaction with it as, say, Pikachu. Dragonite will simple see it as an insult to its honor. You need to be stern to it, and gradually it will soften." He said, getting a smile out of Ash, "But you will have to be patient. Don't expect immediate results." He warned.

"Also, I think you must be reminded of another one of your Pokémon who had a similar mindset?" Oak asked, getting a nod out of Ash.

"Of course, Charizard was just like this before he warmed up to me. But I haven't actually let out Dragonite even once, so I can't really say whether he will disobey me. Do hope not."

Oak raised a hand, "I hope so too Ash, but just for your safety, keep Krookodile out, assuming that's the Pokémon you defeated Dragonite with?" Receiving affirmation from Ash, he continued, "You must prove your superiority over Dragonite, Ash. You must make it clear that it is you, and not him, who is in control."

Ash frowned, not liking this one bit, "Is that really necessary Professor?"

Oak nodded with conviction, "Very. While it is true that Pokémon are very intelligent creatures, we must not forget that they are part animal too. Their natures are very similar to them, even if they are sapient." Oak said, mentioning the other non sapient beings that occupied their planet, animals.

Seeing Ash was still conflicted, Oak continued, "I am not saying you have to do it in a brutal manner, Ash. Just make your thoughts clear. Also, it won't be for very long, since I am sure you will win over Dragonite sooner or later!"

Ash smirked at that, "You can bet on that Professor!"

"I know I can, Ash." Oak pointed towards the transfer machine beside him, "Now, its getting quite late, why don't you send me two of your Pokémon, so that I can exchange them with Gible and Muk?"

* * *

**The next morning...**

The sun was barely peeking in the sky, and the refreshing morning chill was ever-present. Dew was present on the leaves, gracefully dripping down every once in a while. A small volcano appeared to have erupted, which turned out to be nothing more than a Camerupt making a huge show of its waking up. Chirps, cries and shouts of various avian beings made the atmosphere a pleasant one.

It was in this that three figures stood in a vast clearing. The first figure wore a black shirt, with blue jeans and multicolored sneakers. The defining feature being the red colored hat on the top of his head. Said figure also held a red and white sphere in his hands. The second figure was a much smaller one, and sat on the boy's shoulder. It was a yellow creature, with two red spots visible on its cheek. The third figure was a very dark and imposing one, with blue tinted sunglasses present on its face. A large snout, and a predominantly red body, with a long muscular tail finished the figure.

Ash, Pikachu and Krookodile watched with barely kept excitement as Ash pushed the white button on the Pokeball. With a loud crack, the Pokeball let out a glowing beam of energy, which first dissipated, but then organized itself into a shape. The newly forming figure was the largest of them all. With two small wings present at the back and a couple of antennas on top of what appeared to be its head.

Dragonite had a mighty scowl on its face as it looked at the trio standing in front of him.

The two parties spent a couple of minutes in uncomfortable silence, before Ash finally raised a hand in greeting, "Hey, I'm Ash Ketchum." He said, introducing himself, then pointing towards Pikachu, "This is my buddy, Pikachu." Pikachu gave a small 'Pika' in greeting, although the dragon did not respond. Finally pointing towards Krookodile, Ash said, "And I think you two already know each other. But still, this is Krookodile." Krookodile merely gave a subtle nod in greeting.

While the dragon did nothing but scowl while Ash introduced himself and Pikachu, its appearance took a vicious turn as it looked at Krookodile. Eyes narrowing further, and snarling in anger, it barely held itself back from attacking.

Ash had to admit. Had he been the same kid that had left Pallet six years ago, he would have been pretty damn scared at the growl, it was that effective.

But that was then, and this was now, and Dragonite's reaction did nothing but bring out an excited grin from Ash, "So, you wanna battle once again, is that what you're saying Dragonite?"

Taking one step forward, Dragonite gave the barest motion of his head as a response, showing that it did indeed want to battle once again.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that Dragonite, at least not now."

Eyes widening in shock, Dragonite looked with even more anger at the human who dared deny him.

Ash however, didn't wilt down under its gaze, "Krookodile defeated you fair and square, Dragonite. And then I caught you in my Pokeball." Ash stated sternly. He did not need to explain further.

Dragonite gnashed its teeth in anger. It damn well knew what that meant. You don't evolve fully in the wild without knowing about humans or Pokeballs. But that didn't mean he was about to back down.

Dragonite and Ash engaged in a glaring battle for a while. Neither side backed down under the pressure of the other, and remained head first in their thoughts. Without breaking his gaze, Ash stated, "You know, you can leave if you really want to Dragonite." This drew a shocked look from the dragon, prompting Ash to continue, "I can never force a Pokémon to work with me, or for me. Me and my Pokémon, have a motto of working together, not in a system where one is the lesser. I consider them all to be my family. And if you honestly think that this can never work out, you are free to leave." Ash said with full conviction in his voice, not even wavering a little bit.

Dragonite's jaw had actually fell open a little at what it was hearing. Being a fairly smart Pokémon with intelligence enough to fully understand human speech, Dragonite couldn't believe that he was actually meeting a human who would be happy to release a captured Pokémon if it willed so.

At first, Dragonite was a bit skeptical. What if the human tried to attack him while his back was turned? But no, Dragonite, despite its different behavior, still possessed the ability of recognizing a being of pure heart, and this trainer in front of him was as pure as one could get.

Joy filled its veins as it prepared to take off into the sky, but then, the voice of Ash once again came.

"I can help you get stronger, you know."

The words, while so softly spoken, were heard in a crystal clear manner by Dragonite, who turned around from its position a few feet into the air.

"I have seen it, Dragonite. The fire in your eyes to get stronger, to prove that you are the best of the best."

The words struck a chord with the dragon, which turned around even further.

"I have the same goal Dragonite, I want to be the best Pokémon Master that there ever was. We are quite similar, don't you think so?"

Dragonite made a noise similar to a scoff, although it was difficult to say. Still, it was paying rapt attention now, ears fully devoted to what Ash was saying.

"Krookodile wasn't always this strong. He started out as a Sandile, then evolved into Krokorok, and finally into what he is today. I helped him get through that Dragonite, and then I helped him in becoming one of the strongest Krookodiles in the entire Unova region." Krookodile nodded with his arms crossed.

Dragonite had a slight look of surprise on its face as it fully touched back the ground, eyes firmly set on Ash.

The raven haired trainer looked up at Dragonite with shimmering golden brown orbs, "I can help you too Dragonite. I can help you in becoming the strongest one of _all_ time. Travel with me, and you can get to test your mettle against some of the strongest Pokémon in the entire world. With me, you will never have to fear again about being grievously injured for a long time, you will never have to worry for food. I will provide all that, and more for you." He said passionately.

By this time Dragonite's scowl had fully lifted off its face, instead an excited look replaced it. Hunger for power evident in its eyes.

"Me and my Pokémon are a family. And Dragonite, I ask you this," Ash said as he suddenly thrust his right hand forward. Dragonite flinched in surprise, but nevertheless looked at the appendage with curiosity in its eyes.

A smirk crossing his face, Ash looked Dragonite square in the eye, "Do you want to be a part of it?"

With the question out in the open, both Pikachu and Krookodile watched with barely concealed anticipation. Dragonite stared long and ahrd at the outstretched hand of friendship, with Ash keeping the smirk on his face.

Then, just as the clouds parted to let the first rays of sunshine hit the two standing figures, Dragonite extended its own right hand, only to clench it in a fist. A smirk crossed Dragonite's face as it extended the fist towards Ash.

Ash, getting the gist of what was happening, gave a wide grin as he too, clenched his hand into a fist, and in a near simultaneous motion, bumped his fist against Dragonite's.

"So, that means you're in now?" Ash asked, wanting for a definitive answer.

Dragonite nodded with a grunt, as if saying '_Only if you help me get stronger!'_

This made Ash chuckle as he responded, "Sure thing, buddy!"

The look of annoyance that crossed Dragonite's face caused Pikachu and Krookodile to break into snickers. While Dragonite's cowl increased even more at that, eventually, even the brutish Pokémon allowed a small smile to cross its face.

Seeing as everything had sorted out, quicker than he had expected to be honest, Ash looked up at Dragonite with a mischievous look in its eyes, "Say….. what do you say to an alternate form of training? Between you and Krookodile, that is?"

Dragonite's grin couldn't get wider.

* * *

**Back at Cynthia's villa...**

The large hall was lit up by the sunlight coming from the large French windows, reflected off of the glass lights and chandeliers. Surrounded by various antiques and furniture was the large central table. A magnificent thing, it had twenty five chairs lined up around it. Occupying three of them were figures who had as of late become a common fixture in usually lonely villa.

Dawn, Iris and Cilan had just gathered on the table to start their breakfast, when Dawn noticed the absence of one of their members.

"Hey guys, where is Ash?" Dawn asked curiously as she looked around. Having left Piplup to get some extra sleep, Dawn was without her cute penguin starter.

Cilan, who was just about to start serving, shook his head, "I don't know Dawn, when I went to his room thinking that he had overslept, I found that he and Pikachu had already left."

Iris looked at Cilan with surprise, "Left? But where?"

With the green haired sommelier having no answer, the question was laid out in the open. And Jarvis, who had been motionlessly standing on the side for all the while, answered.

"Ahem." He said, as to draw attention, "Master Ash had left quite early morning towards the Pokémon Centre. I think he wished to do some early morning exercises or training." He explained.

Cilan smiled at hearing that, "That does sound like something Ash would do. Not to mention, the morning air refreshes one's body, mind and soul with a fantastic array of colors!"

Dawn and Iris too agreed with Cilan, although they weren't nearly as enthusiastic in expressing it. The bluenette still found herself weirding out at some of the antics of the sommelier.

Taking a bit out of her toast, Dawn looked at Iris, "I just hope he doesn't tire himself out. He stayed out for quite late in the Pokémon centre last night." Dawn said, looking a bit worried. She still remembered how Ash had so many full nighters, training with his Pokémon.

Iris hummed, "I don't know… Ash usually gets up quite early every day, even before me and Cilan. I think he can take care of himself." She stated reassuringly to Dawn, but not before adding, "But, being the little kid that he is, I won't dismiss anything out of hand." She said as she cut her omlette.

All the others rolled their eyes at the ending barb.

Continuing their breakfast in silence, Iris decided to speak up about something she had been thinking about for quite some time now.

"You know," She began, "I think it was pretty amazing how Ash caught Dragonite yesterday." She commented, making the other two look at her in surprise.

Dawn blinked, before swallowing her food, and smiling a little, "Yeah, me too." She said, before backtracking a bit, "I mean, don't get me wrong, Ash is an amazing guy," And she meant that in more ways than one, "But I had never thought that he would outright battle with Dragonite to catch it."

At the questioning looks of the two, she continued, "For all the time I travelled with Ash, he never specifically battled with a Pokémon to catch it. Most of his Pokémon are the ones who decided to join him after whatever crazy adventures we had." She finished with a smile. Seriously, Dawn couldn't even realistically believe whatever she had went through with Ash and Brock. They were just _that_ surreal.

Cilan chuckled at that, "Ha, now that you mention it, I don't think any of Ash's Pokémon…. Well except Krookodile and Palpitoad… anyway, most of his Pokémon do indeed join him like that! Nice thinking Dawn." He smiled at the coordinator.

A joking look came on Iris's face came as she went over Dawn's statement, "Hmm, I wonder if I could have done that with Dragonite. Just imagine, me, someone who hasn't even journeyed for one whole year, catching a Dragonite! That would have shown that stupid Georgia." Iris commented, imagining herself to be actually catching and then commanding Dragonite, utterly crushing Georgia..

Dawn sweatdropped as she looked at the goofily grinning Iris, but Cilan spoke up, dashing Iris's daydreams, "I don't think you would have worked well with Dragonite, Iris."

"What!" Iris exclaimed, "But why?" She asked with a frown.

Cilan looked at her with an even gaze, "You said it yourself Iris, you're a very new trainer, and this is essentially your rookie year as a travelling trainer. Dragonite, in my opinion, was a very strong willed Pokémon. He wouldn't have bent to just anyone's command. And I highly doubt Ash would have any fewer amounts of problems." Cilan finished with a sagely look, bobbing his head.

"Hey! Are you saying that I am _not _as good of a trainer as Ash?" Iris asked with a dangerous look on her face, causing the green haired sommelier to sweat.

Knowing that the blunt answer would probably not work out well, Cilan decided to warp his words, "Uh, no of course not! But what I meant to say was that Ash has been travelling for a long time, and as we heard from Dawn, has some pretty strong Pokémon under his belt. So he is just better suited for it, is all!" He hastily explained.

Before Iris could respond, Dawn sighed, "Look, Iris, I myself know just how hard it is to control a Pokémon with a huge ego. You may not believe it, but Mamoswine was just like that once upon a time. " She said, surprising the other two, "Yeah, it took a whole lot of pampering and dangerous situations to get him back on my side. But I guess what I am trying to say is that Ash really just has the experience to control Dragonite." She finished, making the purple haired girl sigh in a dramatic way.

"You guys really know how to obliterate someone's dreams, you know that?"

* * *

**A few minutes later...**

Finishing up their breakfast, and adding Piplup and Axew to their group, the trio of Cilan, Dawn and Iris made their way out of the villa, giving thanks to Jarvis for the hearty food. Walking together, the group of the five made their way to the adjacent fields which surrounded the large villa. Having been made in a quaint area, not many houses or even travelers were seen around. Just the usual small Pokémon, and sometimes large avian like Pidgeotto and Tranquill.

"I really like the weather here." Dawn commented, "It's just so pleasant over here, even though its January." The blue haired girl had a smile on her face as she took in the pleasant and pollution free air of the Unova countryside.

Cilan smiled at the coordinator, "I am not surprised that you do so, Dawn. Southern Unova has always been known for being a year-long vacation spot. The mix of seasonal flavors, and the amazing combination of Pokémon from all the regions truly make it a beautiful place!" The sommelier exclaimed in his usual cheerful glory.

Dawn sweatdropped at the rather… 'enthusiastic' words, "Uh… sure, whatever you say Cilan."

Iris sighed at the behavior of her green haired friend, who looked, as always, totally nonchalant at the minor discomfort anyone felt from his foodie thoughts.

While their trainers talked, Axew and Piplup comfortably took a look around at their surroundings. It was a surreal experience for both of the Pokémon. While Piplup had never seen Pokémon from Unova, it was similar for Axew, who had never before seen Pokémon from any region other than Unova.

Walking for a few more minutes, the group collectively jaw dropped as they arrived at an area riddled with craters, ripped up rocks and boulders, and fallen trees. Heck, some of the trees were still smoking from whatever they had been hit with.

"What the heck happened here!" Dawn shouted as she took a look at the pure devastation filled in the small area.

Looking equally surprised, the girl from the dragon village then deadpanned as she pin pointed a group of figures standing together at a small distance.

"I think I have our culprits." She said in a flat voice as she pointed at the group of six before them.

The group looked at the dirt, grime and dust coated figures of Dragonite, Pikachu, Oshawott, Snivy, Krookodile and Ash. There wasn't much debate about who had created all of the ruckus in the area. All of the six were panting hard, well except Dragonite, and were covered in multiple layers of dust and soot.

Ash in particular looked quite happy as he gave a thumbs up to Oshawott, "Great job, Oshawott! You were able to perfect Hydro Pump and that too in just one day!" He said in a proud voice to the little otter Pokémon, who looked pleased.

"Osha! Oshawott." Oshawott replied in a pompous manner while it rubbed its shell, eyes closed. Snivy rolled her eyes at the overconfident otter, but looked sharp as she sensed the presence of some newcomers.

"Snivy Vi!" Snivy exclaimed to get Ash's attention, who looked down at the legged serpent, "What's the matter Snivy?"

"Vy!" Snivy said as she pointed towards the approaching group of five.

"Huh?" Ash looked at the figures, only to have a look of pleasant surprise come across his face as he waved a hand in the air, "Hey guys! Over here!"

"Pika pi!" Pikachu ran up to the group with a smile, jumping up a chuckling Cilan's shoulder.

"Hey Ash." Dawn greeted as she came near, but obviously a bit wary of Dragonite.

"Hi Dawn," Ash nodded at the pretty bluenette.

Cilan then asked Ash the question which was on all three of their minds, "So Ash…. What exactly happen here?" He asked, to which he got a blank look.

Iris rolled her eyes, "What he means to say is that just what the heck were you all doing to make this place look like a warzone?" What a kid.

Ash look at his surroundings in a curious manner, and then looking at the craters, smashed boulders, and ripped out trees, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Heh, guess we kind of went overboard here!" He said in an embarrassed manner.

"Well, as long as no one got hurt….." Cilan sighed, "And I see that Dragonite is still here." He commented.

Ash grinned, "That's right, Dragonite and I have sorted out our differences, aint that right buddy?" He asked to the mighty dragon, who scoffed at the 'buddy' but nodded nevertheless.

Dawn nodded, impressed, "Wow, I must say I am really not surprised Ash, I knew that a trainer as good as you would not have any problems." She said with a smile.

The statement did make Ash blush, who smiled in gratitude, "I won't say it was easy, but I am really happy Dragonite and I have worked out our differences, it will really help in the training of one of my older Pokémon." He said thoughtfully.

"Older Pokémon? I didn't know you had any more dragon types, Ash?" Iris said in surprise.

"I do, actually." Ash replied, "I have a Gible." The boy replied pleasantly, only to be replied by an almost violent response from the aspiring dragon master. Grabbing Ash's collar, and lifting him off the ground in an inhuman display of strength, Iris glared.

"WHAT!" Iris thundered, "Why didn't you tell me you had such a beautiful Pokémon!" She asked, all the while shaking Ash to and fro.

"I!" Ash managed out between violent shakes, "DIDN'T!" A few more world spinning shakes, "GET!" A particularly hard one, "A CHANCE!"

"Answer me!" Iris yelled once again, to a partially unconscious, Ash, having been unable to make out any of his broken answers.

Dawn sweatdropped as she looked at the scene, "Uh, Iris?"

"WHAT!"

Gulp, "I think i-it would be better if you stop shaking Ash,"

After a few minutes in which Ash recovered, and Iris apologized with a sheepish look, "Whoops! Sorry Ash, but you know how I get when dragon types are involved!"

Dangerously muttering under his breath, Ash kept his hand on Dawn's shoulder to steady himself, making the blue haired girl get a tint of red on her cheeks from the skin to skin contact. This went unnoticed by the aspiring master, though.

Meanwhile, Piplup was feeling a sense of foreboding as it nervously shuffled in Dawn's arms. The little penguin couldn't help but wonder, just what was it that was making him so nervous?

Taking his hand off of Dawn, thanking the girl to which she just murmured an 'it's alright', Ash took out a Pokeball from his belt.

"Sheesh, Iris, I would have shown you anyway, no need to kill me…" Ash grumbled as he held up a Pokeball. With a progressively more embarrassed Iris apologizing once again, Ash reverted to his previous state, "Well, if you are THAT excited to see it, why not, I have Gible with me right now!" And with that, he pushed the release button on the Pokeball.

Piplup's insides went cold as the words reached its ears. Its eyes widened, and stomach lurched in fear as the light died down from the Pokeball, revealing the shape of its probably most dangerous friend.

What appeared from the Pokeball was a small, round Pokémon. Grey in color with a red underbelly, the protrusions on the Pokémon's thick hide gave it an intimate similarity to a shark. Perhaps the most telling feature of the creature was its large mouth, which was open, and combined with the glazed over eyes, showed the Pokémon was in fact, quite dull.

Most people didn't find such a Pokémon even slightly appealing.

Iris found it to be a specimen sent by Arceus himself.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Iris breathed out every word, as she crouched down to meet the gaze of the dumbly staring Pokémon, "You are sooo cute!" Iris gushed as she looked at the Pokémon in admiration.

As Ash, Dawn, Cilan(who had been 'tasting' a **very **unwilling Dragonite until now), and all of Ash's Pokémon watched with beady eyes, silence reigned in the area for minutes. While Iris looked at the pint sized Pokémon with starry eyes, the said Pokémon just kept its dull look.

Only, after five minutes of utter silence, Gible responded. Taking a step forward, making Iris further gush over how cute its small steps were, Gible jumped about three feet in height, and then promptly, grabbed Iris's head in a chomp.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"AAAHHHHHHHHH!" Blindly running about the clearing, Iris's muffled cry was enough to put everyone in motion, with Ash, Cilan and Dawn rushing forward in an animated manner.

Meanwhile, Piplup, having already jumped off from its trainer's arms, ran as fast as its legs could carry, praying to all of the gods its knew(and considering it was from Sinnoh, they were quite a few), Piplup hoped that the single greatest tragedy that always happened to it when Gible was out, did not happen.

"GEFF HIUM OFFF MUIIII!" Iris cried as she tried to pry off a cheerful looking Gible.

"No! Gible, get off her!"

"Gah! It's so strong!"

"Ash, do something!"

* * *

OOO

**Meanwhile...**

**Many miles away...**

Meanwhile, a very secret and sinister operation was taking place in the southern part of Unova.

Tens of helicopters hovered above the ground, with many yet stationed on the ground. A large number of boats floated in the clear waters of the ocean. Multiple Utility Vehicles and SUVs were parked around the area. But perhaps most importantly, hundreds of black clothed individuals, both male and female, patrolled on the ground. Multiple Pokémon were seen in similar states, with Growlithes, Mightyenas and Houndooms scouting the areas at untraceable speeds. But all of these individuals and vehicles had one thing in common.

All of them had a 'R' emblazoned across their selves.

The soldiers also had darkened paints over their eyes, and black caps, to protect against recognition. All of them had at least one Pokeball strapped to their waists.

With advanced machinery, and tones of wires laid out all over the place, the scene was nothing even comparing to normal. With multiple ground based satellites, and large computers laid out, a number of people in white clothes were diligently working about their stations, many of them running about in a frantic manner.

In all of this, the sudden pulling up of a limousine not only looked quite out of place, but also indicated that the boss had just arrived.

With the limousine coming to a halt, a number of the operatives lined up in parallel lines outside of the door. But two individuals in particular came forward to greet the man about to exit.

Exiting the limo was an orange suited man. A good six feet in height, with slicked brown hair, and cruel black eyes; the man was accompanied by a feline, regal in its appearance, and powerful by stature.

"Are the preparations complete, Pierce?" The man asked the saluting blue haired man.

"Yes, sir. All of our elite operatives have arrived without any problems. Our ships and helicopters did encounter some problems, but they are dealt with." Pierce replied, a smile on his face as he did so.

Giovanni grinned, a regal looking thing, "Indeed, it seems the 'esteemed' politicians we bought have been doing their jobs admirably well." He said, making many of the black clad operatives chuckle. "And what about your job, Dr. Zaeger?"

The short man in the white lab coat stepped forward, his glasses flashing, "The Psychic Pokémon are set up in the place where we need them to be, Sir. The barriers area working properly, and any and all signals, radar, radio or anything else, will be blocked out without any trace." Zaeger explained.

"Excellent. We can't have any of the league fools interrupting us, now, can we?"

Pierce nodded, "Indeed not, sir." Looking inquisitive, the man asked, "If I may ask, is Operative Domino going to take part in the operation?" As the agent asked this, Giovanni's Persian came quite close to him, with teeth bared in a violent manner. However, for an operative as experienced as Pierce, this was nothing.

Indicating his Persian to follow him, Giovanni nodded as he started walking, "Yes. Domino is going to join us in the coming days. She will take joint command of the operatives with you."

"I…. see." Pierce balked a bit at the knowledge, but nodded nevertheless.

"Matori!" Giovanni called out to the woman who had been following after him, "Are all my other appointments taken care of?"

The woman wearing a business suit, and carrying a modern looking tablet in her hands nodded, "Yes, Giovanni sir. The Viridian City Gym is being taken care of by Operatives Butch and Cassidy. And all of your league meetings have been taken care of by an alibi. There is little to no chance that we could ever be implicated in case anything goes…. Awry." The woman finished, looking up from her tablet.

"Oh believe me, it won't, Matori. Team Rocket will not be failing, not this time." The man said, conviction in voice evident, before addressing the scientist, "Dr. Zaeger, I hope you and Dr. Namba have been able to work together in an efficient manner?" He asked in a pointed matter.

The addressed Doctor huffed at the mention of his counterpart, but answered nonetheless, "We have, sir. Chamba is in charge of the inner workings of the temple, and how to make it completely mechanized for you to have a better environment to work in." Zaeger said.

Nodding in satisfaction, Giovanni could actually not believe just how good things were going for him and his organization. After years of failures, and billions of dollars in losses, it seemed that they were finally going to be able to achieve something.

Remembering one final thing, Giovanni spoke up, "Pierce, what about Meloetta? That Pokémon is a must if we need to achieve our objective." Without the little fairy, all of this would have been for nothing. There was no go around about that.

Swallowing nervously, Pierce replied, "I am afraid there is a….. Big problem about that."

Stopping suddenly, and his spine going stiff, Giovanni's voice was cold as steel, "Explain."

"The legendary Pokémon is under the guardianship of Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, and she is with Unova Champion Alder at the moment. There is absolutely no chance we can capture her while she remains in close proximity to these two. My Pokémon can probably defeat one of them, but both? No chance." Pierce replied flatly. There was no way to spin it around.

"And why am I hearing this just now!?" Giovanni thundered, for the first time losing his calm.

This time, Zaeger stepped forward to explain the situation, "The situation has turned this bad just about a day ago, sir. Before that, Meloetta was travelling with a group of trainers, one of whom was the Straiton gym leader. The Pokémon had gotten quite attached with the apparent leader of the group, a sixteen year old named… Ash or something, who has been followed by Jessie, James and Meowth for a period of six years. They had all the Intel on the group, and we were sure that with enough force, we can probably capture Meloetta." Zaeger explained, while many of the other operatives began murmuring about the boy.

Just how strong of a trainer was this boy that he was followed by Elite Rocket Operatives for six years?

While Giovanni started getting a headache at the mention of the boy, "Tell me," He said, interrupting Zaeger, "Is this a boy who travels with a Pikachu on his shoulder?" He asked in an exasperated manner.

"Why yes!" Zaeger exclaimed, "Yes it is the same boy." Now, the operatives were even more nervous. A boy, just sixteen years old, was personally known by _the _Boss? Now that was something to think about.

Meanwhile, unknowing of his operatives thoughts, Giovanni nursed his head, trying to stem the headache, "Continue."

Nodding at the command, Zaeger started again, "So, as I was saying, we were pretty confident. Even when the Sinnoh Champion personally joined the boy, we were sure that Pierce could get the job done with a hit and run tactic. But now…. Well you already know the situation."

Giovanni growled. This was not good. Yet, all hope was not lost. It was not as if the Legendary would travel with the champion for long. Eventually it _had _to rejoin the kids. "What measures have been undertaken by you to solve this problem of ours, Pierce?"

"Jessie, James and Meowth are on the job, sir." The man said with a smile, knowing that his decision was right, not noticing Giovanni's bulging vein, "Seeing the amount of Intel they had on all of the opposing parties involved, as well as the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, I think they are the most suited for the job. And not only that, they have performed admirably well in our dealings in Unova this year, not even one job was left alone. All databases have been hacked into, and we have little to fear for otherwise." The blue haired man stated with confidence.

Giovanni, whose mouth had opened in a pre-emptive motion to shout at Pierce, shut. While it was true that the trio were probably some of the biggest screwups he had ever employed, he had to agree that they had cleaned up their act a lot this year. A lot of the S-Rank jobs regarding infiltration and subterfuge had been done by them without any problems. The fools didn't even know what purpose their jobs filled! They were loyal to an extent Giovanni considered downright moronic.

But they were indeed the most suited to do the job, Giovanni couldn't disagree with that. Doing a large scale operation with all their operatives could end in an unmitigated disaster, especially when two of the regional champions were together at one place.

And if by some crazy twist of fate, they were indeed successful, and then Giovanni could lead the biggest operation in Team Rocket history. The single largest scale operation, one which had been in the making for more than eight years. The operation, which would finally allow him to rule the world.

"It seems Operation Tempest would go on after all."

OOO

* * *

**Back at the fields...**

After getting Gible off of Iris, things finally got to an almost normal level for the group.

With Dragonite and Oshawott doing elemental training, Pikachu and Krookodile faced off to test their abilities against opponents with sizes far different than their own. While Snivy continued her stamina training by performing multiple attacks, doing physical work with her vines, and then absorbing energy faster using Leech Seed.

The other three let out their Pokémon as well, with Ash also taking out a Pokeball. However, the action confused Dawn, who had already counted six of Ash's Pokémon in the open.

"Oh this?" Ash asked, while pointing at the Pokeball in his hand, "I actually sent Pikachu's Pokeball back to Professor Oak." At his friends shocked look, he continued, "I know that no matter the circumstance, Pikachu aint ever getting back in. So that Pokeball just occupied a wasted spot on my belt. So, by sending Pikachu's Pokeball home, I can keep a total of seven Pokémon with me." Ash explained.

"That's….. brilliant." Cilan commented, clearly impressed by the innovative training.

"All I wanna know is whether you got another Dragon type in there." Iris asked, showing no tact as usual.

"Is it one of your Sinnoh Pokémon, Ash?" Dawn said, hugely wishing it to be Buizel, her old Pokémon. Meanwhile, Dawn once again noticed the absence of Piplup, but shrugged it off.

"No, its neither a Dragon, and nor any of my Sinnoh Pokémon, sorry Dawn." Ash stated apologetically, knowing that Dawn must have wanted to meet her old buddy Buizel.

"But," He said, continuing in a grand manner, and also getting the attention of his Pokémon, who all rushed near him, even Dragonite, "The Pokémon inside is one of my oldest, and bestest buddy. He is a Pokémon who can't even be hurt by Physical attacks, and he isn't even a ghost!"

Now after the fabulous introduction, all of the individuals present were getting quite eager to see just what Pokémon it was.

"Friends, get ready to meet-!" Ash yelled as he hurled the Pokeball in the air,

"MUUUKKK!"

A huge purple blob thumped out of the Pokeball in bright silver light. Shivering and contusing, the blob eventually began to regain shape, with two arms jutting out, and a cavity opened in its mid section, inside which a thick purple tongue was clearly visible. The grass around the blob visibly wilted and turned into a poisonous purple color. Two white spots with black dots appeared above the creature's mouth, appearing in a droopy shape due to the Pokémon's ever changing shape. An extremely foul smell of rotten corpses filled the air, before it was controlled by the being.

Dawn and Iris's jaw dropped, "After the entire introduction….. This is the Pokémon?" A living purple sludge?

"Muk, meet your new friends, Dragonite, Oshawott, Snivy and Krookodilllllleeeeeeeeeee!" Ash was unable to complete as a huge weight suddenly dumped itself on him. Two slimy arms wrapped themselves around the boy, none of the usual poisonous effect which was associated with Muk.

"Its good to see you too, Muk!" Ash rasped out to his over affectionate Pokémon, while patting it over the head awkwardly. "Now can you get off, I can't bre…." Just before Ash was about to pass out, Dragonite thankfully punched Muk out of the way, making the Pokémon land five feet away.

Initially, Ash and others worried about him, but before anyone could say anything, Muk reformed effortlessly, giving a creepy laughter as he did so.

"Gurk Gurk Gurk."

As Dragonite, even with all his years of training and battles filled with blood, cringed away, Cilan helped Ash stand back up, who immediately took heaps of breaths, "Thanks, Dragonite."

Then looking towards the three of his friends, Ash's face cracked into a hopeful smile, "Isn't he really awesome guys?"

While Dawn and Iris looked at each other awkwardly, Cilan wasted no time in giving his enthusiastic answer, "There is no doubt about it, Ash! Muk has all of the sweet tasting flavors of a Pokémon who dearly loves his Master. There is also the strong tasting essence, which comes from its strong and nigh indestructible body! Your Muk is truly a wonderful specimen." Cilan finished, getting a radiant smile from Ash, while Dawn and Iris looked at him in disbelief.

Unfortunately for Cilan(And in accordance, Dawn and Iris), the living blob had heard the statements, and with tear filled eyes, moved towards the three with arms outstretched and an open mouthed smile.

"Muukkkk!" Just as Muk was about to hug the three, Ash recalled Muk into its Pokeball hastily. While he loved and appreciated all of his Pokémon, even he could admit that getting hugged by Muk wasn't the most invigorating experience of all.

Nor was it common. Heck, the two regional professors that Muk had hugged, and without any harmful poisonous effect, had published papers regarding the behavior of the Pokémon, and one which had been well known for disrupting industrial work before capture.

Taking in a lungful of the morning air, since it was still 6 am, Ash decided to get things going, "Right then, I don't mean to be rude guys, but I'm afraid me and my Pokémon have to get on with my training." When his travel companions nodded, Ash walked away, with his Pokémon following close behind.

Reaching a partially secluded area, Ash began jutting out orders, "Snivy, I think you should work with Oshawott. Your type advantage against him would help him get better, and you can get experience with strong water type attacks." He said, to which the two Pokémon nodded. While it was true that Oshawott wasn't actually that strong, and neither was he the most experienced, so was Snivy. So, to put one of his older and more experienced water types, such as Squirtle or Totodile against her would prove to be a massive disadvantage.

"Krookodile, practice your digging. We saw how helpful it was against Dragonite, so you need to perfect it even more." He said to the glasses wearing Croc. Hmm, now that he thought about it, he needed to have Squirtle and Krookodile meet soon. They did have awfully similar styles.

Turning to his starter, he said, "Pikachu, you will work with Muk, help him regain his fitness, yeah?" Pikachu responded with an enthusiastic 'Pika!', "Use Thundershock to get his pain tolerance up, and then use Quick Attack until Muk can start tracking you."

While Pikachu ran off, Ash released Muk once more, but this time with a warning that they were doing serious training, and any playful behavior will have to come later. Muk pouted, but sludged off nonetheless.

Dragonite had a look of impatience across its face, while Gible still had the blank look it always showed, "Dragonite, do you know Draco Meteor?" Ash asked, to which Dragonite responded with a confused glare.

"Agu?" Dragonite seemed to have no knowledge of the attack. Understandable, since the attack was native to Sinnoh and few dragon types outside of the region knew it.

Realizing that Dragonite might not be understanding, Ash decided to show a demonstration, "Gible, use Draco Meteor on that boulder right there!" Ash commanded.

"Gib Gible."

While Gible didn't show any look of understanding, it started making its way with small, wobbly steps, its mouth still wide open in a blank look. However, a few seconds later, orange energy began gathering in the Dragon's mouth. The grass wilting away from the sheer heat gathered, the energy began to coalesce into a glowing sphere. With a mighty cry of effort, Gible launched the sphere into the sky, where upon reaching twenty feet in height, the sphere exploded in a magnificent shower of energy balls. The scene representing a meteor shower, the multiple meteors of energy all hit the boulder, and the area surrounding it.

Ina magnificent explosion, the boulder was shattered into a million pieces, with the area surrounding the boulder turning into a minor crater.

No one noticed a minor meteor sailing way off course.

Dragonite looked with wide eyes at the attack, and the sheer magnificence of it. The hunger was evident in its eyes, and for the first time, Dragonite genuinely believed he had made the right decision in joining the trainer known as Ash Ketchum.

OOO

* * *

Piplup ran.

It ran as fast as its little legs could carry. Blasting away oppositions like rocks and plants with water attacks, Piplup ran a large distance away from the clearing where the behemoth known as Gible was.

While the Pokémon wouldn't have had such problems with the dragon type usually, knowing that Ash was out here for training had lit all of the red flags in its mind.

Finally resting to a stop, Piplup let out a breath as it rested against the bark of a tree. Truly, he was safe now. How improbable it was that something could find him here and more so something with no thought process.

Sinking into the glory of peacefulness and quaint surroundings, Piplup merrily folded its wings behind its head, and laid out in a relaxed pose.

*swiiii*

Its eyes wide open, and mouth opened in horror as the horrible screeching sound of _that _attack reached its ears, Piplup ran out from under the tree. Looking towards the sky, its mouth was open in horror as a single meteorite burned its way towards his location.

When Piplup started running, the meteorite amazingly followed, almost as if it were being remote controlled.

No matter what Piplup did, whether it made a sharp turn, or rolled under a fallen tree, the meteorite followed.

Anime tears fell from its eyes, Piplup cursed the day when Gible had learned that godforsaken attack.

OOO


	3. Let the Junior Cup begin!

**Author's Note: **Chapter 3, all ready for your viewing pleasures.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. I pwn it.

* * *

**POKÉMON**

**Apex**

_Chapter 3: Let the Junior World Cup begin!_

**(Lacrosse Town)**

"So this is where the Junior Cup will take place…" Ash muttered as he walked through the gates of the town, having shown his Pokedex as ID. His companions, Dawn, Iris and Cilan were walking alongside him, with Dawn on his left, and Cilan and Iris further ways back. Pikachu was riding his shoulder, as usual.

"This town sure is pretty!" Dawn commented after looking at the various colorful banners, old Victorian style buildings, and multiple vibrant stalls. They were even welcomed by the Mascot of the town, a man wearing a Darmanitan outfit.

Speed walking towards every stall, and checking out every released Pokémon with their trainers, Cilan looked to be the most excited of them all, "The festive mood in this town is in full gear! The aroma of beautifully cooked foods, and the fragrance of a gathering of a number of trainers, ready to test their mettle against other trainers and Pokémon! Truly, Lacrosse is the town to be in." Cilan exclaimed exuberantly, even twirling a little bit. The sommelier was happy, and not afraid to show it.

Iris promptly created a distance of about four feet from her friend.

Walking through town in a relaxed manner, and enjoying the various festivities, the gang made their way towards the large stadium clearly standing out in the relatively small town. They were not alone as hundreds of other trainers walked alongside them, some relaxed, and others in a hurry.

Turning to the yellow electric type on his shoulder, Ash raised his eyebrow, "Anything you wanna buy buddy?" He asked his Pokémon, immediately causing Pikachu to exclaim happily, and start running towards a stall, pulling a frantic Ash with him.

The sudden rush caused his friends to look on in confusion, "Huh? What's the matter Ash?" Dawn called out behind.

Looking contemplative, Cilan said, "Looks like something has caught Pikachu's interest, and he wants Ash to buy it for him."

This caused Iris and Dawn to look towards their respective companions as well, "Do you want something too, Axew?" Iris said with a smile, to which Axew looked around for a bit, before pointing towards a stall with wooden toys.

"Well, since everybody else is buying….. what about you Piplup?" Dawn asked her Pokémon, who immediately pointed at the Ice Cream stall.

With that, the group spent the next ten minutes tending to their Pokemons' wishes. Buying a few stuff, and sternly denying Axew from buying the whole wooden doll set, Iris was the first to finish. Piplup finished the Ice Cream in about the equal time, while Cilan finished buying various gourmet spices for later on.

A few minutes later, Ash returned too, with Pikachu happily sipping from a red bottle on his shoulder.

"Just had to get a ketchup, huh?" Ash sighed amusedly at his Pokémon's antics, but then continued walking with his companions. A Pokémon centre came on the way and the group was all ready to avoid it altogether, but a few familiar voices stopped them. It seemingly did many others too, all of whom turned to look at the commotion.

"Ah! My beautiful lady Champion, would you go on a lunch with me?" A loud, exuberant voice rang out, and one which was very familiar to the group of four.

A nervous laugh was the only response to the voice, "Uh… I don't really know…"

"Oh come on! A Champion can only be tended by a Champion and I am really your man-" The man with the spiky orange hair was interrupted as the group came around them.

"Cynthia?" Ash, having come closer to look at the two, exclaimed as he looked at the Sinnoh Champion, who immediately brightened up at seeing the young trainer, following him were Dawn, Iris and Cilan, all of whom were pleasantly surprised at seeing the Champion.

"Ah! Ash! You've arrived." Cynthia smiled at the young trainer, ignoring the large orange haired Unova Champion. Looking backwards to see his other companions looking in their direction, "I see that Iris, Dawn and Cilan are with you too." She said as the three chirped their own greetings to her. Cynthia slightly sweatdropped at seeing the huge crowd now gathered to look at the scene. It was not usual to get two of the champions in one place after all.

Ash grinned, "You bet! We all are here to take part in the World Tournament!" Suddenly noticing the other champion, Ash's face brightened even more, "Woah! Alder, you are here too?"

Recognizing the young trainer, Alder chuckled, "Indeed, Ashton! I am here to commentate on the tournament, along with the beautiful lady Cynthia!" Alder commented, before suddenly remembering something, "Oh, and that reminds me, lady Cynthia, will you go on a-"

Stopping Alder right there, Cynthia made everyone's jaw drop as she took Ash's hand, making the boy look at her in confusion. Giving a discreet wink to the boy, Cynthia spoke up,

"I'm terribly sorry Alder, but I already have prior engagements with Ash, so I can't go with you." She said, a fake look of sorry on her face. Everyone watched with a stunned look at the scene, most notably Ash's friends.

"WHAT!?" Dawn screamed in her mind, unable to make out any coherent words. What the heck was going on? "Does Cynthia…. NO! That couldn't be possible! It just can't…"

Alder's jaw hit the ground, "But-B-b-!"

Giggling ecstatically in her mind, Cynthia took it one step further, lacing her arms together with an increasingly happier Ash, "Come on Ash, let's go. Dawn, Cilan and Iris, you can come too." She said as she waved good bye to the shocked Unova Champion. Ash's companions dumbly nodded as they followed after the two.

"Uh sure, wherever you want Cynthia!" Ash said cheerfully, his mood on a high at the thought of free food he was going to get. What could be better than that!

* * *

But Ash really did start wondering about how holding hands felt. It somehow felt different thatn when he held hands with his mother when he was younger. For some reason it did, he just couldn't understand how.

It was not the action. But the context. He had held hands with many of his girl friends during his journey, but doing it while walking towards a café, invited to lunch? Somehow, the two actions were related to each other. But how!?

Was this something just related to Cynthia? Or did something like that would happen if he held hands with his other female friends too? What about Dawn? Misty? May? Iris?

And just why did Cynthia hold hands with him in the first place? She had never done that before. And why did he get the feeling that this was meant to insinuate something?

Do people always hold hands when walking together to get food? But he never did that with Brock or Tracy? And he had a feeling that would be extremely weird. But why? Was this something to be done with just girls?

Holding hands… this was something that he, Ash Ketchum, needed to put some research into.

Hmm…. So very confusing.

* * *

OOO

Stopping dead in the middle of the street, Cynthia suddenly darted her eyes all over, "Is he out of sight?" Cynthia suddenly spoke up, a serious look on her face.

Ash blinked at the question, "Who's out of sight?" The young trainer was still a bit confused at the whole 'lacing arms together' thing. But he couldn't deny that for some strange reason… it felt good(?)

Looking quite intently, Cynthia answered, "Alder, is he out of sight? Can you see him following us?" She asked hurriedly.

"Uh… No?" And really he hadn't. After leaving the strangely shocked champion behind, neither Ash nor Pikachu had seen him.

Cynthia breathed a huge sigh of relief as he removed her arm from Ash's, "Woosh! I had thought I would never be able to ditch him!"

"You guys hungry? Let's go to that café right there!" Cynthia said, looking strangely happy. The group nodded mutely, very confused by the extreme changes that were coming to the blonde beauty's emotions.

Sitting at a table for four, with Ash pulling up an extra chair from a nearby table, the group placed their orders. Cynthia noticed with a glint in her eyes as Dawn pointedly took the seat next to Ash, and making sure to keep close to him.

Also, Cynthia had removed her hand from Ash's, making the boy to fall in deep thought for a while.

Why did Cynthia remove her hands from him? Was it something to be done only while walking? Or could it be done while sitting at the table as well?

And did Cynthia compliment him for being a proper gentle man? Was this something every girl would do if he held their hands for a while? Ash still was confused about how exactly did holding hands feel good.

Was it something related to skin to skin contact? Yes, that could be it. He had had similar feelings of strangeness many times during his journey, particularly when having any kind of intimate skin to skin contact with a person of the opposite gender. Particularly when he had danced with Misty at the festival years ago. Although that was so far back that he might as well have forgotten about it.

He had held hands before. When saving Dawn from falling off the tower when Dialga and Palkia met, and when he pushed May had into the escape pod. But those scenarios were completely different than what he had just experienced.

Now, he had been in a relaxed state, able to enjoy. Then, his body had been in a fight or flight state, in a life threatening situation, where the only thing on his mind was to save his friends. Would it have been different had they been, say, in a situation similar to today?

All this was way more confusing that whatever Ash had ever used his brain for, so he let the thoughts rest for now.

Meanwhile, Cilan had been the first to notice the absence of Meloetta around Cynthia, making the green haired gym leader frown with worry

Cilan looked towards the blonde, "Cynthia, I do not see Meloetta with you, has she disappeared once again?" He asked with concern.

Cynthia giggled, "Nothing like that, Cilan. Meloetta simply stayed up late last night watching a movie, she is resting at the hotel." She explained, making Dawn's brow frown in worry.

"Will she be okay? She won't try to find you or anything?"

Cynthia hummed in thought, "Well, I did leave one of my Pokémon behind to take care and guard her, so nothing should really happen." This particular statement made any worry that any of them had go away. Nothing could be safer than being guarded by a Pokémon Master's Pokémon.

For the next few minutes, silence reigned at the table, with the five just doing random activities, not knowing what to talk about. A pair of blue eyes were discreetly fixed on the amused blonde champion.

Finally, when the call came, "ORDER NUMBER 206 READY!" Ash got up, "I'll get it guys!" And proceeded to excitedly jog towards the counter, making a waiter frown.

Finally getting the chance to speak, Cynthia looked at Dawn with a slightly apologetic look, "I'm sorry Dawn." She whispered so that no one but Dawn could hear what she was saying, making the girl look at her in surprise.

"Huh? But what for, Cynthia?"

"Hmm? For stealing your boyfriend for a while, of course." Cynthia answered with an obvious tone.

Dawn blushed brighter than she had ever before, "B-Boyfriend!?" Dawn exclaimed, somehow taking care to not let her voice reach the other two, "Ash is not my boyfriend!" She denied fervently, making Cynthia look at her in surprise.

"What? He isn't?"Cynthia's voice belied her surprise at the information.

"No! How can you even say that?" Dawn asked heatedly.

Cynthia shrugged, "Well, whenever I saw the two of you in Sinnoh, you looked awfully close. I just thought that you two were committed after travelling together for a year." She answered in a frank voice.

"Well we aren't." Dawn said pointedly, "So don't think otherwise, okay?"

Cynthia chuckled with mirth, "Sure, whatever you say Dawn."

OOO

**Sometime later…**

**World Tournament Arena…**

After another twenty minutes of walking, the group of four humans and three Pokémon reached the entry gates of the massive arena, around which huge swathes of policemen and military men were keeping watch. Having taken their lunch with Cynthia, the group then departed from the Sinnoh champion towards the arena to get their passes.

In a massive animated banner, the name of the prestigious tournament about to take place was being boldly advertised,

"**Pokémon World Tournament: Junior Cup"**

"Good thing we got here in time, otherwise the line would have been huge." Dawn commented, looking at the waiting line where a total of ten people were patiently standing.

The main gate had a mild rush, but after a few minutes of standing in a line, the group finally got their four competitor passes. The arena gate then divided into two hallways, with one of them going towards the venue for viewership, and the other for reaching the locker rooms.

The group naturally took the other one, reaching the empty locker rooms and stashing their bags and respected things safely into the metal boxes. Attaching their Pokeballs to their belts, the group then made their way towards the arena, where yet another seating area was present. However, unlike the others, this one wasn't empty.

"Whoa." Ash exclaimed as he looked at the throngs of competitors stacked up in the room, with many of them having their Pokémon released.

More than a hundred trainers were stacked into the huge hall cum seating area. The trainers exchanged barbs and pleasantries in an even manner. The Pokémon too looked energetic, enthusiasm bundling out. Ash was also quite surprised at noticing just how many of the Pokémon were from Kanto.

"The World Tournament Junior Cup is highly promoted in these two regions, Ash." Cilan explained.

"Huh, but why didn't I never hear about it?" Ash exclaimed indignantly.

Cilan appeared confused, "I don't know whether I can answer than Ash, but what I can tell you is that the competition itself has just existed for about four years."

Ash's eyes widened in understanding. He had not travelled in Kanto for over five years, so it was natural he would miss it. One thing confused him still, and that was how did the event have so much advertising and coverage then? A dour year old competition was not even that prestigious. But before he could say anything, a very gratingly familiar voice interrupted them,

"Well well, look whose here."

"Trip?" Ash turned around, and indeed, it was his blonde haired rival, in complete attire with his camera.

"Hello, Ash. Here to lose in the tournament too?" Trip asked, wasting no time in mocking his rival.

Ash however, merely smirked, "We'll see about that Trip, for now, make sure you get to the finals, coz I'll be waiting." He said with confidence oozing from his voice.

"Is that so?" Trip looked amused, "Well, good luck to you then, because we both know you will severely need it." He said, walking away.

When Dawn started giggling, Ash looked at her in a confused manner, "Its just that I really cant believe how intense your showdowns with your rivals always turns." She said with a smile, making Ash grin sheepishly as well.

"Wow! The _Dragon Master _is here!" A **very **sarcastic voice came from behind the group, followed by an equally sarcastic slow clap.

Turning around with a massive vein bulging on her forehead, Iris glared at her rival, "Yeah? What's it to you?"

Looking disinterested, Georgia smirked, "Oh nothing." She said airily, making the purple haired girl twitch, "I see that you are here too Ash. And Cilan as well." She said, nodding with a smile at the other two members of Iris's travelling group, but raised an eyebrow at Dawn, "I don't think I recognize you."

"She's Dawn, my friend and a coordinator from Sinnoh." Ash explained, before turning his bluenette friend, "And Dawn, this here is Georgia, she's a dragon buster."

Dawn smiled at the other girl, shaking hands with her, "Nice to meet you, Georgia," She said, before looking at her confusion, "Wait, what's a dragon buster?"

"A dragon buster is someone who defeats dragon type Pokémon. Its my dream to defeat every single one of them." Georgia explained. Dawn made an 'ah' sound in acceptance, finding the concept to be a bit far-fetched. After all, many of the legendaries were dragon types as well. And keeping Ash's luck aside, it was very hard to find one.

"It's starting!"

Suddenly, a loud trumpet sound gained everyone's attention. Looking upward at the large four sided television, the group had their eyes wide open in anticipation and surprise as a note came onto the screens, saying that the draws were going to happen right now.

"All right, Pikachu. Let's see just who is it we will be beating!" Ash exclaimed to his Pokémon, with the electric type looking equally motivated.

"Pika Pikachu!"

The screen then showed the faces of the competitors taking part in the tournament. After a minute in which the graphics of all the trainers appeared, the screen suddenly started flashing in a very strobe light like manner.

After a tense few minutes, in which the screen kept on pulsing with a dramatic background score, the drawing finally stopped showing the pictures of the competitors lined next to each other, with a VS between them.

"My first match is against….Marris." Ash said a bit dully, not really knowing who the guy was.

"Ramone."

"Shepherd….. wait, what?"

"Gratia."

"And finally….me against Stanling."

These were the responses of Dawn, Cilan, Iris and Georgia, all of them taking that extra moment to find their faces on the jam packed screen.

"Looks like none of us are paired against anyone we know. And… apparently, my match will be the first." An excited grin on his face, Ash was more than pumped up to start the tournament, and end it as well. His excitement was so much that his feet were tapping the ground from overflowing energy.

This drew an adoring giggle from Dawn, who was more than acquainted with Ash's pre battle energy.

Seeing that the draw was finally over, and the tournament was about to start in about half an hour, Georgia decided to take her leave, "Well, I guess I best be off guys! Meet you in the tournament." Georgia waved to the group, before giving a raspberry to Iris, who mere growled in response.

"Aahh! I just hate that girl!" Iris exclaimed furiously, stomping her foot onto the ground. "Just wait and watch, I'll crush her if she gets drawn against me!"

"Be careful what you wish for Iris," Cilan got a wry grin on his face, before continuing, "If you both win all of your matches, you two will meet in the round of sixteen. So, defeat three of your opponents, and you will have your chance."

Iris got a determined glint on her face, "Sorry, Gratia, whoever you are, because you aint winning this round against me!"

OOO

** watch?v=s0DyJ4m7l-M**

**At the Arena…**

"Hello and welcome all to Nike presents Pokémon World Tournament: Junior Cup, where rivalries are taken to the limit, and legends are born!" Freddy the scoop's voice rang out through the entire arena, with the crowd cheering at his words.

As the theme song blared over the speakers, multiple balloons of varying colors were launched into the sky, making for an amazing view from the spectators area. The fifty thousand capacity arena was filled to the brim, with people of all ages looking equally enthusiastic. Multiple vendors went around doing brisk business, with everyone wanting to buy at least a coke in the mild heat. Truly, the atmosphere was great for a tournament of such size.

Multiple cameras panned out and took great shots of the arena, the opening ceremony, and the crowds. Orders were being given out a hundred a second over wireless and walkie talkies. Being televised to multiple nations, the event had high definition cameras installed everywhere, with live feeds being taken from the media box. A great amount of focus was on the two gates that separated the trainer's room from the arena entrance. Also, on the huge four sided television hanging over the top of the arena Nike visuals were playing out, with no one really giving any attention.

"Young trainers from around the globe have come together to compete in this prestigious tournament, make their name known, and if they win, get a chance to battle against the Unova Champion himself!" When the crowd let out an audible gasp at that, Freddy's grin could practically be felt from the speakers, "Oh you heard that right folks! One youngling is going to get the chance to put his skills to the burner against the one and only Alder! I'll tell you what folks, someone in this tournament is in for the fight of their life!"

"Oh, and not to say, joining me right now is none other than the champ himself! Yeah, I just keep dropping them bombs, don't I?" The crowd began chanting his name as Alder appeared on the huge screen set up, grinning and waving to the crowd.

"How's everyone doing today?" The orange haired man asked jovially, much to the crowd's delight as they cheered once more.

"Welcome to this great tournament, where rivalries are taken to the limit and legends are born!" He said, to which a confused cheer(?) came from the crowd.

"Um, Alder?" Freddy said, trying to hide his embarrassment, "I already said that."

Alder got a confused look on his face, "Huh? You did? But it's here in my lines too!" The clueless champion complained, not even bothering to turn the mike off.

As the crowd laughed at the technical difficulties the duo were having, Freddy immediately tried to take back control of the situation, "Ahem! Uh, so without any further delay, I present to you our competitors!"

Fortunately, the crowd's short attention span was immediately gathered by the throngs of trainer coming out of the gates and into the field. Waving to the crowd, and looking happy all round, the trainers stood in a ground in the middle of the huge arena. Multiple flashes came as Polaroid and selfies were clicked. The trainers basked in the attention as they waved and smiled at the crowd.

"Let's get ready to see just who is competing against whom!" Alder announced to the arena, causing fifty five thousand and two hundred fifteen heads to look towards the screens in union. While the trainers knew about their opponents before hand, it was the first time that it was being seen by the spectators, so the energy level was quite high.

"As you can see," Freddy began, "There are a total of two hundred and fifty six competitors, a very convenient number if I say so myself, and they are going to compete in one on one matches against each other. The format of the tournament in an elimination style one, so a total of seven rounds will take place before we reach the final match. Four of these rounds will take place today, while the other three will be taking place tomorrow." Freddy explained, laying out the rules of the tournament for the viewers all around the globe.

"Our first match will be between Marris, who belongs from the town of Straiton. It is his second entry in the tournament. While he unfortunately didn't get far in the first one, he surely has come back stronger than ever!" Introducing the first competitor, Freddy listed out the bare details to the crowd.

Stepping forward and onto the first competitor's box, Marris waved to the crowd, who gave him a mild applause. A brown haired boy with no distinguishing features whatsoever, Marris fit in with the everyday Joe look inexplicably well.

"And his opponent…. Oh, and this one's a doozy guys, is none other than Ash Ketchum, who hails all the way from Pallet Town of Kanto! My, this is one guy who travelled far and wide!" The excitement was clear in his voice as Freddy introduced the pallet native.

"All right!" Ash had a determined grin on his face as he ran up to the second competitor box. Waving to the crowd like he had done so many times before, Ash and Pikachu looked like the very definition of confidence as they looked across to their opponent, who had grown a bit wary after having learnt that his opponent was from another region.

"And he's got a Pikachu too! What a rare Pokémon!" Freddy was genuinely surprised after seeing the yellow Pokémon on Ash's shoulder. Most of the crowd gave an amazed gasp as they immediately began capturing the rare Pokémon in their cameras.

Ash and Pikachu were bombarded by a thousand flashes as the enthusiastic supporters took full advantage of the moment.

Alder, having not played any role in introducing the competitors so far, grinned as he looked at Ash, "Ah yes! Ashton is a very promising young trainer."

"What's this? Champ, you almost make it sound as if you know the boy personally?" Freddy asked the champion, who nodded,

"Indeed. I have met Ashton and his friend… Trashton or something, a while back. I must say, I was most impressed by their abilities." Alder praised, with the crowd wowing at the thought that this trainer was being backed by the champion himself. Trip sweatdropped at the bastardizing of his name, his previous hero worship of the champ going even lower than it already had.

The cameras immediately began taking close up shots of Ash and Pikachu, while many of the betting rings pegged the boy as a potential winner.

However, noticing the comically depressed look on the other trainer's face, Alder quickly interjected, "That's not to say he's going to win today! Midget has good chance too." While most of the crowd face palmed at the habit of their champion to forget names, 'Midget' looked somewhat encouraged by the support. Notwithstanding the name, of course.

"Also, with the sun so hot today, be sure to buy Mountain Dew, drives your thirst away!" Alder announced, reading out from a pre written paper. After all, mentioning every sponsor was a must, no matter how irritating it might be.

"With that out of the way, I hand things over to referee Mike Chioda, who will be refereeing over the match." Freddy said as the cameras panned over to the referee.

Wearing a red and black combination of clothes, the referee raised the two flags in either of his hands, "This match will be a one on one. Each trainer will use a single Pokémon, which will battle until the other faints, or I call the end. Are the trainers ready?" Chioda called out.

"Yes!" "Yeah!" Came the determined reply from the two trainers, Pokeballs already in their hands.

"Very well then." Chioda nodded, before bringing down the two flags in a swishing motion, "BEGIN!"

OOO

**Meanwhile…**

**In the snack bar…**

"Here's your order, sir! A double chocolate chip cone." An overly happy voice belonging to a woman with magenta hair in a bun came as she handed a cone to a rushing customer. Taking up the money, and outing it into an overflowing register, Jessie let out a content sigh as she once again looked at the thick wad of bills they had managed to sell out in such a short time.

"And here's a Chocolate Brownie, just for you, young lady!" James said pleasantly as he handed the paper cup to a little girl, who squealed happily as she took the fat laden desert.

"Come again!" Jessie and James chorused as they waved to the father daughter duo, who smiled in return, but then hurried back to their seats for the start of the Tournament.

"A thousa'd twen'y, a thousan' four'y, and a thousan' seven'y! We made the big bucks guys!" Meowth said with a cat like grin as he finished counting the register.

"You can say _that _again, Meowth." Jessie said as she wiped her forehead with a napkin, "It's almost as if we are the only people selling Ice Cream here." She said.

An evil chuckle escaped from James's mouth, "Only….. we really are the only ones selling!" He said as he high fived his partner.

"Oh yeah, disrupting the supplies of them big companies sure paid off!" Meowth cheered as he remembered how they had used a variety of methods to stop the other trucks from even reaching the arena. Thus, making them the only shop to go to in the heat!

Pushing a few buttons on the refrigerator, and checking whether it was all working fine, James reset the cooling, "You know guys," He said offhandedly, "I actually really like this job. We should do it more often."

"Yeah, definitely better than blasting off again." Jessie said as she sweatdropped, remembering the more than seven hundred times they had experienced flying without wings.

Meowth was about to say something himself, before a regal voice cut through the shop.

"Excuse me."

"Welcome to Rocket Ice Cream, what can I get you?" Jessie's voice was automatic and sweet as honey as she turned around, but immediately froze as she got a good look at just who it was.

"I'll have a Chocolate….. no wait, strawberry….. forget that, butterscotch….on second thought…"

"Oh no!" Jessie's voice was a horrified whisper.

"Maybe Rainbow? But…. Chocolate chip's good too…. Nah…"

"Our worst customer!" James whispered, his hand coming up to his mouth.

"What do you think Meloetta? Should I get the five in one…. Or perhaps vanilla strawberry mix?"

"Meloetta…Melllloetta.." A similar humming voice came from next to the champion. A cute little pixie Pokémon looking at the ice creams with the cutest expression.

"Cynthia!?" Meowth slumped, as did his two partners, when they recognized the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia.

"Perhaps a brownie chocolate? Or a hot chocolate dip… nah, too hot for that…. But then there's.." Cynthia had a delicate hand on her chin as she bent to get a good look at the various flavors on display. Seemingly unable to come to a decision, the champion simply examined each of the flavors.

"Mello…etta mello…" Meloetta seemed even more divided as she flew around, looking at all of the flavors.

"She going to go on all day, isn't she?" James groaned as he sat on a chair, knowing that Cynthia would probably take a horrible amount of time to finally choose… and then again change it.

"There go our profits…"

They really couldn't catch a break.

OOO

**Back at the Arena…**

"Pansage, let's go!" Marris shouted as he hurled a Pokeball towards the arena.

"Pan!" Exploding from the ball was a Pokémon Ash knew very well from his association with Cilan. A monkey like build, along with plant shaped ears gave Pansage its distinct advantage. Giving a strong battle cry, Pansage had a determined look on his face as he stared down Ash, ready to take on any Pokémon he sent out.

"And Marris has sent out Pansage! A good choice if battling Ash chooses Pikachu." Freddy commented as the cameras got a close up view of the serious Pokémon.

Pikachu and Ash were impressed by the Pokémon's battle spirit. Unlike his trainer, Pansage was fully confident. But nevertheless, he had a job to do.

"I haven't used you in a long time, buddy. But I have no doubt you're gonna win!" Taking a Pokeball from his belt, and taking a baseball player like pose, Ash threw the Pokeball towards the arena, "Muk, I choose you.

The whole arena watched with anticipation s the Pokeball cracked open in a white light. Emerging from within was an unnaturally shaped light, which remained the same as it solidified into a large purple mass.

"MUUKKKK!"

Two hands jutting out from within, and two white spots appearing on its body, Muk made his grand entrance into the arena. The spectators watched with amazed eyes as once again the arena was filled with flashes, all of the Unova inhabitants more than eager to take a picture of the rare Kanto Pokémon.

"Looks like Ash has us for a surprise ladies and gentlemen. He has let out a Pokémon belonging to the Kanto region. For those not knowing, it indeed is a Muk!" Freddy excited voice rang out from the speakers as the audience wowed at the data,

While all this was happening, Ash and Pikachu sweatdropped at the absurd amount of attention they were getting. "It's almost as if they have never seen a Muk!" Which could be partially true since they didn't originate in Unova, but still!

"Grr…" Marris was a bit annoyed from all of the seriously stupid attention his opponent was getting, and thus decided to make the first move, "Pansage, move forward and attack that living sludge!" He shouted, with his Pokémon charging ahead with a confident look.

Ash simply smirked at his opponent's ignorance, "Muk, you know what to do." He said, to which Muk just let out a dull cry.

Pansage reached Muk with highly accelerated speed. Jumping up in the air from five feet backwards, Pansage acrobatically spun in the air a few times, before landing a spinning kick on a stationary Muk.

A loud splat sound coming, Muk's entire upper body was violently pushed downward by the kick, its eyes, mouth, all of it disappearing. Most of the crowd, and even some of the cameramen winced as the sound came. Instant replay' showed just how much force had been behind that kick.

"Yeah! Show them who's the boss Pansage! Don't let him rest for even a second!" Marris exclaimed with a smirk. "Looks like my surprise attack really worked."

"Sage!" Pansage followed his spin kick by launching a large combo of kicks, further splattering the Pokémon to spread all over the ground. "Pan!" Following it with a huge punch, the grass type launched Muk's slimy body into the air, before grabbing it and smashing it onto the ground.

Freddy's voice came once again, "Looks like Pansage is in full control, Muk isn't able to even reply with something of his own!"

A loud 'crack' sound coming, the ground had minor cracks in it from the sheer force Pansage had splattered its body downward. Panting harshly after the extremely quick series of attacks, Pansage had a satisfied smirk on his face as he looked at the uneven purple slime that was Muk.

"I must say ladies and gentlemen, Marris has shown us that one doesn't need a rare Pokémon to win." Freddy said, his voice a bit downcast as he shook his head in disappointment. He expected more from a boy Alder promoted.

"Heh! Looks like we've got a winner here!" Marris cheered, happy for his apparent victory.

Ash simply stood with a bored expression as it all happened. But hearing Marris's happy shout, he smirked.

Poor bastard.

"Muk!" Ash's voice rang out, loud and clear, "Now!"

With the crowd's shock, Marris's surprise, and Pansage's horror, Muk rose up from its uneven state with a speed like a biting cobra. But Pansage had been giving attention to the match, and thus was able to jump away.

"Oh my god!" Freddy exclaimed, even Alder was surprised, "What's this!? Muk is completely unhurt from any of Pansage's attacks!"

"Gurk Gurk Gurk." The poison type chuckled.

"H-How is this possible?" Marris's voice was a shocked whisper, unable to believe that they had not even done a little bit of damage to the poison type.

Feeling sorry for the other buy, Ash decided to indulge him for a bit, "As you cans see, Muk has a very… flexible body. And what can I say…he just absorbs shockwaves like no other Pokémon I've seen do until now." He said, making the other boy's eyes widen.

Back in the competitor box, almost every trainer's had a jaw dropped expression after seeing Muk's rise. Not one of them had expected such a twist.

Piakchu had to contain his snickers. The shock going through every single person's mind in the arena was exactly similar to how he, Misty and Brock had felt back at the Indigo League.

"Grr…" Although Marris was a bit peeved at the fact that all that energy had been wasted by Pansage, he wasn't about to give up now, "No worries, Pansage, use Leaf Storm!" No way was Muk going to come out unhurt against an attack of such magnitude.

"Oh my, how is Muk going to escape this one?" This time it was Alder who spoke. Having looked at Muk, the champion realized just how slow the Pokémon actually was, thus its inability to dodge area wide attacks like Leaf Storm. He was very curious about what Ash was going to do.

"Pansage!" Pansage gave a determined cry. Energy gathering around its body in a green mystical glow, Pansage summoned a whole lot of leaves around itself. Giving a grin, Pansage was just about to launch the attack towards its enemy that its entire body froze. The leaves disappeared, and the energy fizzled out as Pansage's legs gave out.

"What the-!" Marris's shock was evident in his eyes as he looked at his Pokémon.

Crying out in agony, Pansage fell to his knees, his hands shaking uncontrollably as they started turning purple. The same effect was appearing on multiple parts of its body and legs. Finally, after duration of thirty seconds, Pansage fell flat on the ground with a thump. Its entire body paralyzed, the Pokémon was unable to even move a muscle.

"Pansage's fallen, how about a hug to make it feel better, Muk?" Ash chuckled.

Slowly slurping its way towards the paralyzed Pokémon, Muk allowed the crowd to get a full view of the rotten land he left in his waste. Plants looked as if they had been treated with nuclear waste, and the ground turned into a mini puddle.

Putting its arms around a paralyzed Pansage, Muk grinned widely.

"Pansage is paralyzed." Ash explained, much everyone's confusion, "Muk's entire body is nothing but a living mass of just about every toxin present on planet earth. His body is even more corroding than acid after a period of prolonged contact, so feel lucky that Pansage was just hitting it quick and for a short time." Ash explained, much to the horror of Marris. He left out the part where he said that Muk could easily control its body's toxins, so as to allow it to be in contact with flora and fauna, and not give any everlasting damage. And thus, could have touched Pansage just like a normal Pokémon.

He somehow felt Marris wouldn't appreciate the extra knowledge.

"You had me from the moment the match started…" Marris looked at the ground in an expression which was a mixture of awe and anger, "My approach to battling your Pokémon was flawed from the beginning." He spat out, while the crowd was in awe over the strategic battle employed by Ash Ketchum. The boy has the match won without even ordering an attack!

Freddy was flabbergasted at the knowledge, "Well folks, the Pokedex data for Muk gives somewhat the same info, but I actually didn't think it was so literal."

"Ash has shown an extremely good strategic battle, taking advantage of his opponent's ignorance about Pokémon from other regions." Alder said, his voice impressed.

Hearing the cheers from the crowd was music to Ash's ears, but he hadn't actually won till now.

"But now, it's time to end this," Ash dramatically pointed a finger towards his Pokémon, "Muk, use a sludge bomb at close-"

"No wait! I give up! I give up!"

Marris's worried cry cut Ash's order, making the referee raise the flag in the Kanto trainer's direction, "By the way of forfeit, the winner of this match and advancing to the next round is Ash Ketchum of Kanto!" Chioda announced, with Ash's picture appearing onto the big screen with much pomp, with winner emblazoned under it.

The crowd gave a thunderous applause to the victor, who waved to them in response.

"Alright! We did it Muk!" Ash cheered as Muk quickly slugged his way towards the competitors box. Hurriedly recalling the Pokémon, Ash gave a sigh of relief. It wouldn't do to give away the fact about Muk being able to control his toxins.

* * *

**Over the day…**

While Ash's match was the opening match, it also became the marquee one due to his brilliant strategizing and usage of his Pokémon's natural ability. Adding to that was the fact that most of the other matches were dull, over-in-a-flash matches, which ended with a dominating victory of one and the humiliating loss of another.

Ash's acquaintances won all of their matches, with Georgia and Dawn proving to be the most impressive. While others had what could be amounted as cannon-fodder opponents, the two girls had seasoned battlers with experience equal to their own.

Dawn faced Ramone, a boy more interested in flirting with her than giving out orders. While the match was one filled with irritating moments, Dawn's Quilava eventually won against Ramone's Conkeldurr. A tough match, but also a very exciting one.

Ash, for some reason, was cheering extra hard in that match. Not for Dawn, but against Ramone. Curious.

Georgia opponent used an Altaria, making it a much sweeter victory. Her Beartic barely pulled up after their last clash, but Georgia considered it worth it.

Trip naturally owned his opponents. The boy proved himself to be a very capable battles, using his fully evolved Serperior to devastating effectiveness.

With the second round matches to start in the same order, Ash was once again in the trainer's box, a frown on his hand as he faced a red haired boy. Impressive in his first match, and quite dominating over his opponent, Masaro had Ash's full attention.

Using his newly evolved Dewott against the opponent's Cryogonal, Ash was in for a very hard match. Hydro Pumps and Ice Beams soon followed.

The arena was filled with massive waves moving with tsunamic strength, only the psychic \barriers keeping the audience safe. Cryogonal's Sheer Cold and Icy Wind combo turned the battlefield into tundra, with both Pokémon now using Ice type attacks. With neither side giving a quarter, both were engaged in a very physical battle.

Dewott naturally was a winner at that. A born swordsman, Dewott's Scalchop proved devastating against Cryogonal, with a five hit combo slash being enough for the newly evolved Dewott to take its opponent down.

With another victory under his name, Ash's match paved way for the following rounds, with his friends duly following. He used Snivy and Gible in round three and four respectively, with Cilan's unfortunate departure in round three against the opponent Ash was now facing in round four.

"No, Gible!" Ash exclaimed as his Gible took another hit from his opponent's Meinshao.

"Giii…" Gible let out a pain filled cry as it somehow wobbled back up.

"That's right, Meinshao!" The other trainer, Raja, cheered, "Show them who's the boss! Use another Focus Punch, and it will be all over." He commanded.

Meinshao, a regal looking Pokémon with soft white fur, nodded wordlessly as it charged up another Focus Punch. Having had quite a tough battle till now, Meinshao was covered in cuts and bruises itself, with beads of sweat on its face showing exactly just how tired the Pokémon truly was,

"Gible!" Ash bit his lip as he thought of some way to protect his Pokémon. If only they could hide for some time…

That's it! Like a light bulb had gone off in his mind, Ash grinned at the brilliant idea he had.

Letting Meinshao start his run, Ash commanded, "Gible, use Sandstorm and disappear!"

Looking as if Christmas had come early, Gible's face brightened. Its hand glowing with ethereal energy, Gible waved them once, as if praying to a deity. Just as Meinshao was at a distance of eight feet from the little dragon, a sandstorm exploded from its location. It did the job of not only distracting Meinshao off course, but also helped Gible to make his escape.

"Hmph." Raja, however, was completely undeterred, "You think we haven't faced something like this before?" He mocked, not noticing Ash's grin over the large sandstorm, "I'll show you! Meinshao, use Calm Mind to help you locate Gible!" he commanded.

Closing its eyes meditatively for a split second, Meinshao opened them in a flash. Glowing blue, the Pokémon's vision had just been enhanced by a hundred times, making it able to see clearly through the sandstorm.

"Meinshao must be able to see that runt now," Raja, looking confident, ordered, "Now, Meinshao, attack with Aura Sphere! Full power!"

"Get ready, Gible!"

Meinshao, concentrating all of the natural energy around its body, compressed it all into a sphere about the size of a baseball into his hands. Not a big as it could have been, but with the limited resources and time it had, it was all the fighting type could manage.

Nevertheless, locating a dark shape which it identified as Gible, Meinshao gave a loud battle cry as it charged towards its opponent. Gible tried to move away, but all was for naught as Meinshao thrust the Aura Sphere into the Pokémon.

However, instead of hearing pain filled cry, Meinshao was met with the sound of exploding earth.

"Bite him!"

An unimaginable amount of pain emerged from Meinshao's hands, causing the fighting type to look at the limb. Shocked, Meinshao wondered just how did Gible get onto his hand.

With the sandstorm clearing at an accelerated speed, a grinning Raja's victory face was wiped clean off as he witnessed the scene.

Gaping in disbelief, his queries were answered by Ash, "Sand Veil, Gible's special ability." Ash said, a smirk on his face.

Yelling in anger, Raja shouted, "Meinshao! GET THAT PEST OFF OF YOU!"

But it was all for naught as Ash calmly muttered his next command.

"Gible. Draco Meteor."

With Raja's angered screams, and the crowd's massive 'ooh', Gible charged up a Draco Meteor in its mouth. With no space, the hot plasma began covering Meinshao, resulting in the Pokémon to be covered in orange, the screech from the charging attack drowning out its cries.

In a fabulous display of strength, Gible launched its opponent twenty feet into the sky, with the draconian orange energy engulfing him even further.

"Boom."

With Ash's one word, the attack exploded into a brilliant shower of pain. Meteorites flew from the attack, hitting the ground to form massive craters and rip out trees. After all of the meteors had fallen, a final one fell with double the intensity.

The crowd looked in amazement as the firework display went off, leaving behind a smoking Meinshao, and a tired, but conscious, Gible.

"The winner of this match, and proceeding to the round of sixteen, is Ash Ketchum of Kanto!" The referee announced, with the crowd now chanting Ash's name. Who wouldn't, after such an amazing match.

"Alright! That concludes the first match of the round of thirty two, and I must say Ash is really something else! What about you Alder?" Freddy's excited voice rang out.

"Ashton has been impressing me all day! His tactics and skills are matched by only a couple of trainers in this- wait a moment! Look, Gible is glowing!" Alder's voice raised by a large amount as he pointed towards the arena.

The crowd too looked towards the ground after the champ's announcement, where lo and behold, Gible was glowing!

"Woah! Is Gible really.." Ash muttered, amazement in his voice.

"Pika…!" Pikachu too looked with awe filled eyes towards Gible.

For the Pokémon itself, it had been a nerve wracking match. Even after all of the training with Dragonite, Gible had struggled quite a bit in the match. Many of the problems being due to his short arms. But after winning, an insane amount of confidence had been instilled in the Pokémon.

Yelling its name with all its might, Gible suddenly found empowering, hot energy surround him. Looking in amazement at his own hands, as they lengthened, and how his head moved further from the ground, Gible's smile was enough to run Tokyo for a day as the energy finally left.

Looking towards the crowd, and his trainer, and how they were all looking at it in amazement, the new Pokémon let out a fierce cry,

"Gabite!"

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

**In the stands…**

"Hmm… I think I'll chose the Chocolate-strawberry-vanilla-butterscotch-rainbow-extra chips and sprinkles-brownie Sunday." Cynthia smiled as she finally gave her order. Meloetta was nowhere to be seen, her own patience have run out in the outrageous time Cynthia took to chose her Ice Cream.

Their eyes hollow like a zombie, and their hair frazzled, the trio worked at light speeds to deliver the Ice cream to the Sinnoh champion. Which looked somewhere between Muk shit and Garbodor vomit by the time they were finished. Yet, the champ was happy with the ice cream.

"Thank you, and here's a tip. Don't spend it all at once!" Cynthia waved goodbye as she left a measly tip, causing the trio to roar in anger.

They had lost more than eight thousand dollars worth during that time!

Unaware of the dark thoughts against her, Cynthia jovially walked down the corridors, turning a few times to reach the VIP box. Seeing Meloetta with one of her trusted companions, the champion smiled at the Pokémon who took a curious look at the ice cream, before turning away with a disgusted face.

Unheeding of it, Cynthia calmly took her place back at the front row. Taking a light lick of her ice cream, causing many of the men surrounding her to almost faint then and there, Cynthia then turned her attention towards the field.

And almost dropped her ice cream.

"Is that… Ash? And a Gabite!?" Cynthia's puzzled look was further amplified as she looked at the crowd cheering loudly.

It was only after seeing the instant replay videos that Cynthia allowed a grin to cross her face.

So, Ash's little Gible had finally evolved. That too in the middle of a tournament.

Cynthia had to say it. Every time she had met Ash, almost all events happening after wards were like scenes out of a TV show. No better example than a trio of Rockets coming to steal her Pokémon, and his Pikachu, with a huge mecha. And that wasn't even counting Team Galactic.

Truly. Life was never boring around Ash Ketchum.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hmm. Another chapter done. **

**I am in a kind of disbelief myself. Oh well.**

**Like and follow it if you loved it, flame if you hated it, and review in any case whatsoever. That's the only way to get a bastard like me to post the next chapter super quick.**


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